The Manipulators: Guardians
by Kavbj
Summary: Manipulators, those who can Manipulate a certain Element. In a continuing cycle, a Guardian is chosen from each Element by Fate, and given the task of protecting the people of Magartha. But Kai finds himself changing, in more ways than one. Kai Central.
1. Chapter 1

**hi its me with another story! sorry if the grammar and that is really bad but i am sooooooooooooo tired. i tried to fix it up as much as possible. the title to this may be changed. not sure yet. well enjoy!**

**dnt own characters.**

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* * *

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Kai panted as he stood on shaky legs.

"Boy keep it up. Such a shame you were the chosen one. The power is wasted on such a weakling."

'Great here we go again' thought Kai as he rolled his crimson eyes.

"The least I can do is train you so that you are ready but you aren't even grateful for it you little runt!" Kai's grandfather continued to rave on.

"You are only training me for your own selfish reasons!" objected Kai.

"_Our_ reasons! Once you are at full power we will be the rulers of Magartha. Do you not want that boy? Do you wish for your parents deaths to be for nothing!" shouted Voltaire. Kai winced at the last comment. His parents had been killed when he was young but the memory was fresh. Fire, blood, crimson wings, war. Death. But his beloved companion had been by his side. His friend, his family, his soul. His phoenix. She had been there when the stress had become to great, when Kai's world felt like it was falling apart and it was she who comforted him in the darkest nights.

"Boy stop daydreaming and get back to work!" ordered Voltaire as he whipped Kai. At the feel of the whip hitting his skin, Kai winced at the sudden pain and quickly moved back into to continue the tiring training.

* * *

Kai bolted awake. He wiped the cold sweat beaded on his forehead away with a clammy hand and steadied his heart rate and breathing.

"It was only a dream. Nothing more." He mumbled to himself. But the dream had been much more and Kai knew it. The dream was a lost memory, one of the many he had lost years ago. Kai thought he must have been 6 when that had happened and quickly became angry with himself at not being able to remember much more from that time.

Kai was now 16 and scars decorated his muscular and fit body from the time he had forgotten. His crimson eyes shone in the dark as he rolled onto his side to stare at the wall, his dual coloured silky hair falling onto his face. Kai pushed it back with a slightly tanned hand. His face was decorated with four dark blue triangles, two on each cheek. Marks similar to those of his tribe apparently. They had been a gift, a blessing from his mighty phoenix. The one he wished to talk to and seek comfort with.

"Dranzer." Kai called softly. There was a flash and standing before Kai was the phoenix he thought so fondly of. Her feathers were a bold red with golden marks decorating her body. There was one mark that went from the top of her head – which upon it sat a golden V shaped symbol - to the base of her tail. The phoenix's tail was about the length of her body ending in a spade shape. When the golden mark that went from top to bottom reached the tip of her tail, it split in two and traced the edges of the spade at the ends of her tail before finally stopping in a spiral. The bird itself was quite tall, Kai not even being the height of her chest. Her crimson eyes bore into those of Kai's.

'It is aright young one. All shall be fine.'

'Yes. But I yearn to remember. My heart yearns to remember it all. The pain and those who hurt me. But also those who protected me.' Kai fingered the chain around his neck. On it sat a feather and a dagger crossed over each other, circled by a flame.

'I wish to remember _them.'_'

'I know it is hard bu-' the phoenix was cut off and quickly disappeared as the door leading to her master's room swung open.

"Kai?" someone whispered.

Kai sat up to face the person who had intruded. "What is it Carlos?" he snapped.

Carlos faced his leader calmly saying, "There is a new mission. Its for an individual and we were wondering if you would like to take it seeing you haven't been out on your own for a while."

Kai thought over it before replying, "Get all I need ready. I'll be out soon." Carlos nodded and walked out, shutting the door once more.

'Yay! Finally some fun. Another chance for the Flaming Sharks.' Cheered Dranzer as she appeared once more.

'Dranzer shut it will you. I think this will be the one we've been expecting.'

'You can't seriously mean…'

'Yes that one. Come it shall be a long journey and we shall have to think of a new leader for the gang while we are on this journey. We will then send word on our decision and that will be that.' With that Kai walked out of his room and Dranzer disappeared in a flash.

* * *

"Grandpa! Must we do this again!" whined 14 yr old Tyson. A kendo stick came crashing down on his.

"Come little dude. You need to be ready ya dig?"

"Yeah, yeah. I dig. Though I so wish you hadn't gone travelling through the portals. This slang thing is really annoying."

'Ha ha. Shush Tyson. He's just having a but of fun.'

'Oh enough! Its your fault for even opening the portals in the first place!'

'It's almost time.'

'D...dragoon. Are you serious? You mean I'm going to meet the others soon.'

'You already know 2 of them. Maybe more.'

'What? Who?'

'You shall soon see.'

'Dragoon, tell me! DRAGOON!!'

* * *

Rei laughed as his friend fell once again.

"Lee we need to be able to balance on the bamboo before I can go see Max and Tyson tomorrow. I'm probably going to have to tell them tomorrow as well, which, will hopefully turn out ok."

"I know, I know. I've got plans as well you know."

Rei mocked surprise, "you mean you've actually got a social life!"

"Oh shut up!" Rei laughed again and shook his head, his long black hair swaying slightly at the movements. Rei heard a deep humming sound within his head. Drigger was laughing also.

* * *

Max stared up at the sky as he drifted in the water.

'Tomorrow should be the day.' He thought. 'The others don't know its me but I know its them. That dream last night… it's slightly different now. Does it mean we're going to meet the others soon?' Max sighed and closed his baby blue eyes. As long as he had Draciel he would be fine.

* * *

Rei arrived in time to see Max and Tyson greeting each other. Taking a deep breath in, Rei let it out with a sigh as he walked towards the pair.

"Hey Rei!" Tyson called, being the first to see the neko jin. Max greeted him soon after.

"Hi guys." Rei smiled at them, fangs appearing over his bottom lip. They set up a fire and sat down talking and laughing with each other.

"So Rei how have you been?" Max asked.

"Good… but…"

"But what?" Tyson asked, worried that something awful had happened.

"Well, you see, there's something I have to tell you. We are all Manipulators correct?"

The two teens listening looked at each other then looked back at Rei, nodding.

"Well I am not just a Manipulator. I'm a."

"Guardian" the group said it together. Tyson's eyes widened while Max had no reaction. They would all have to tell each other some time that night, the 'time' as the elders said, was nearing. Rei was the one who had the guts to say it first.

"I know." Max said quietly. Rei looked up at his friend in surprise, as did Tyson.

"You did?" Tyson asked bewildered. Max nodded.

"How?"

"Because of the dreams. I am the guardian of water. Also the guardian with the power of seeing premonitions. I already knew that you and Rei were Guardians."

"You're a Guardian Tyson!" exclaimed Rei before growling. The elders, they set the meetings up. The first time he had met Tyson and Max hadn't been a coincidence. The elders had known and they set it up!

Tyson sighed as he realised what Rei had, so did Max.

"Well do you know who the others are Max?" Tyson asked as he looked at the blonde teen.

"No. But lately my dreams or premonitions have been changing."

"Oh? And How's that?"

"It was only two, three days ago, when we planned this trip. How about I start somewhere that will make more sense?" the group nodded. "Well I knew about you two because of this dream. The scene that unfolded was exactly what just happened. We told each other of who we truly were. After we planned this trip the dream changed."

_**Dream/flashback**_

"_What the?" Max thought as he looked around. Raging fire surrounded him and when he looked around, he saw the others standing next to him. They were both staring at something and as Max looked in the same direction, he gasped. There facing the small group was a teen with penetrating eyes. Before Max could get a proper look at the teen, the dream seemed to, cut out._

_It returned again but all Max saw of the teen was his back as he was flying off, the fires now dying out until they were completely gone._

"Whoa…"breathed Rei.

"So he was fire," mumbled Tyson. Max nodded.

"Tyson's air, Max is water and I am thunder and lightening with traces of earth. Now we wait on fire. And possibly any others. The elders from my dimension used to be unsure if there were going to be others or not. They now think that the others will be a part of it but they may only be Manipulators. The elders in my village agree. Only one half of the prophecy has been located and studied." Rei explained as he stared into the flames of the fire. He sighed deeply as he looked up at his two closest friends and gave them a weak smile. "Guess its time for the fun to really begin." The group was silent, each contemplating their own thoughts.

Tyson broke the silence, complaining, "I'm hungry!" his friends laughed, what was new?

* * *

Rei woke and quickly sat up. the sun was only just starting to rise, the sky still being fairly dark. His amber eyes pierced the darkness as he scanned the surrounding grounds. There it was again! He quickly woke the others and when Tyson wouldn't wake up, Rei retrieved his container of water and poured it onto the slumbering teen.

"What's up Rei?" Max asked, ignoring Tyson's complaining.

"Something's near. I can smell it but as well as that I can smell the magic power it possesses."

"So you have the gift of smell and senses." Rei only nodded. "Heh. You are a neko jin so I guess it's to be expected." The group now stood in silence, waiting for an oncoming attack.

Suddenly there was a loud roar and a huge creature came charging through the trees. The creature snorted and looked at the group before him through small red eyes. Two ugly twisted horns cam from the top of his head and his ears stuck out oddly to the side. His skin was also red and he had two arms on each side. His legs resembled those of a goats but being much bigger seeing he was about 3 times the size of Rei who was tallest of the small group. Cuts and other wounds covered the strongly built form of the creature, some bleeding badly.

Rei narrowed his eyes and got into an attack stance looking more cat-like then ever. Max looked fearful and Tyson felt his eyes widen. Suddenly one of the four arms swung at them and as they quickly jumped away, the group was separated and forced to each fight an arm.

* * *

"Dranzer! Hurry!" yelled Kai as he flew through the woods, swerving in between trees and other plants. He flew low to ground and was reaching amazing speeds. In his hand he held a beautiful sword, the hilt golden with a red ruby at the base and another near the base of the blade. Red lined the blades edges and fresh blood was painted across the point. Kai looked up quickly as he saw a shadow over the top of him. He relaxed as he saw Dranzer diving down before swerving up right and flying over him. Kai twisted as he avoided a tree branch and narrowed his eyes as he saw the exit coming closer. Just because the monster was able to quickly get away the first time didn't mean it would happen again. Kai folded his crimson wings in, urging himself to go faster when he saw one of the four arms swing at a navy haired boy. No way in hell was someone going to die because of that thing! He barged through the remaining branches, a war cry emitting from his mouth.**_

* * *

Rei's POV_**

All of us including the creature, stopped as we heard, then saw, a young man come from the direction the creature had. He was flying fast with a pair of crimson wings and he held a beautiful sword in his hands. Raising the sword above his head, he brought it down with a yell; bending over as he did so and cut own the creatures back. The creature let out a gut-wrenching scream as the young man dragged the sword right down the creatures back, dropping swiftly to the ground as he reached the creatures hips. He quickly dodged the arm coming at him before charging at the creature once again.

I watched amazed as Tyson and Max walk over to join me, they too amazed.

The creature reared back, opening it's mouth and out came a mighty flame. The man held up his sword sideways, one side of the blade facing his face, the other, the creature. The point was actually facing us. We watched with worried expressions as the flame came closer to the man but it stopped as it hit an invisible barrier, centimetres away from the sword. As the flames rebounded, a few flew in our direction. The young man seemed to notice also as he raised his hand in front of him, closing it into a fist, as he did the flames died away, but the other flames that weren't heading for us had already left a mark. Countless trees were burning and traces of smoke filled the air. We flinched as the sword was knocked out of the distracted young mans hand and he was pushed to the ground, a large hand trapping him. He struggled but to no avail. I felt a large amount of guilt, thinking the man would die, and if he did it would be our fault in a way because he was protecting us from the flames. But he surprised us all as he opened his mouth and called for someone whose name was Dranzer

'Not someone, some_thing!_" I thought as a beautiful phoenix came down from the sky, talons ready, neck arched, wings raised, beak open and eyes fierce. She clawed at the creatures back, and as the creature yelled and tried to fight the bird off, the man quickly escaped. As he stood facing the two creatures fighting, he made a set of hand signs, before clenching one into a fist and the other wrapping around the fist. He brought his hands up to his mouth and twisted them slightly so his thumbs sat gently on his lips, making it look as though he was about to make a bird call. A small hole could be seen through the two hands and suddenly he took a deep breath and blew. As he blew the hand wrapped around the fist came down to the man's side while his pinkie, ring finger and middle finger fanned out from the fist, leaving just the index finger and thumb. Our eyes widened as the man breathed flames. Well at least we now knew he was a fire Manipulator. The fire continued coming, the creature writhing in pain. As the man ran out of breath, the flames died and the creature faced the man, fully angered now. The man smirked. I frowned. Why on earth would he be smirking? And victoriously? The creature was even angrier now so if I were him I would not be smirking. The man reached for his crossbow that was sitting on his back, which I had just noticed was there, and grabbed an arrow. Aiming at the creature's head, he released the string, still smirking. The creature screamed in pain, clutching at his forehead where the arrow was pierced through its skin. Suddenly a red miasma surrounded the creature and it was gone! We looked on shocked.

_**

* * *

Normal POV**_

The man, no _teen,_ turned to them and it was the first time the group took a proper look at him. He was dressed in black long pants, black boots, a blank tank top and a black leather jacket. His face was framed by dual coloured hair, slate at the front, and midnight blue at the back. Sitting on his face was a beautiful mask; it covered his forehead and came down his right cheek, finishing at his chin. His mouth, left cheek, whick were marked by two blue triangles, and nose were the only things not covered. The mask was a glimmering red and the edges were rough and slightly ragged, but not from wear, it was just the way it looked. The edges were a glittery gold and the gold went around the slits where the teens crimson orbs could be seen, the gold thicker under the eyes. In his hand he held the crossbow, on his back the arrows. The phoenix walked over to stand next to him.

_Raging fire surrounded the group._

He held out his hand as he did earlier and clenched it into a fist again, the flames dying away.

_Penetrating eyes._

He looked at them, his eyes as fierce as the phoenix's. His wings disappeared and his mask changed. It covered just his forehead and was still a glimmering red but glittery red decorated the edges. Two blue triangles, on each cheek, stood out fiercely. He climbed onto the phoenix's back. The almighty bird raised her wings, arched her neck and with a cry took off.

_Flying away._

The group watched as the figure disappeared.

"Kai…" Rei muttered for some reason. 'Wait!' he thought. ' It was rare for a Manipulator to have a phoenix! And he had called her Dranzer. Dranzer was the Goddess of all fire creatures as well as phoenixes! And the mask! The first one was like mine when I use the power of a guardian! And his clothes changed when the mask changed and the wings disappeared. He was fire!'

"Max!" Rei cried. Max nodded.

"It was him." He whispered.

* * *

**well there ya go! to those who read my other stories, LSAR _will_ be updated this weekend, even if the chapter is fairly short!but it shouldnt be i hope.**

**byeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**kavbj**


	2. Chapter 2 The Shadows

**_Chapter 2 The Shadows._**

* * *

"He… you mean… but he… and her…" stuttered Tyson as he tried to get a hold of things. While Max attempted to explain things to Tyson, Rei looked around. Blood was scattered in different areas and Rei winced at the strong smell it emitted. As he continued to look around, something caught his eye. The morning sun was reflecting off something. Rei walked towards the object and when he got a better look, he ran. It was the fire guardian's sword! Rei picked it up gently and turned it over in his hands. 'Great. How are we supposed to give it back to him!' Rei thought as he walked back to the other two, Tyson had finally got what was going on.

"Hey Rei! What'd you find?" asked Max, as bubbly as always. Rei showed them the sword and they discussed what they should do.

_'Go through the forest in the direction in which I came. It shall soon begin. The war. The battle. The adventure. The game.'_

"Ok this is officially creeping me out! A sword just spoke to us!" exclaimed Tyson.

"Come on. We should do what it says." Instructed Rei as he headed towards the aforementioned forest. Max followed without question.

"But Rei!" whined Tyson. "We're taking directions from a _sword!_"

"The sword of a guardian!"

"And that makes it alright?"

"Yes!"

* * *

"But it's a sword!"

"Tyson! Get over it!" chorused Max and Rei. The group continued walking forward, hoping they were going in the right direction.

"We're lost." Stated Rei.

"What?!" shouted Tyson.

_'To find the person you seek, you must be strong, this is not for the weak, the journey will be long.'_

"Now what is it saying?" asked Tyson. No reply.

"Hey Rei, what do you think it means?" asked Max.

"Not sure. But I think it's telling us that things are gonna get tricky."

"Why answer him and not me?" again Tyson got no reply. Tyson crossed his arms and went in a huff.

Rei's ears twitched as he heard a twig snap.

"Guys. Get ready to fight!" Rei hissed. As the three boys stood there waiting, a creature emerged.

"What is it?" asked Rei.

"It's… a Shadow?" guessed Tyson. The 'Shadow' pointed to Max.

"You." It whispered. Its voice was wispy and low. Max exchanged glances with his friends before stepping forward.

"Prepare to battle." Ordered the "Shadow. Max looked at him frightened.

"What?" demanded Tyson as he took a step forward but fell to the ground rubbing his now aching nose.

"Tyson! Are you ok?" asked Rei as he knelt down beside Tyson.

"I'm fine but…" Tyson stretched out a hand and came in contact with a barrier. "Max…"

Max faced the creature once more and gulped. He would have to do this on his own.

'Just remember what you learnt! And call on me if you need be!' supported Draciel.

The Shadow stretched out an inky hand flames covered his fingertips. Max closed his eyes and concentrated. Water rose in front of him and flowed around him in a circle. Max opened his eyes and taking a deep breath, dragged his left leg behind his right and placed his arms out in front of him before bringing them round so that they were stretched out to the side, the water separated and hovered near his hands. Then with a flick of his wrists, Max sent the water towards the Shadow. As the water hit, the Shadow hissed. It flung its arm out and flames were sent in Max's direction. Max also flung out one of his arms and counterattacked. The flames were caught in bubbles filled with water. Max then directed them towards the Shadow and they were soon hovering over the creature's head.

The flames had caused the water to boil and as Max released his hold on the bubbles, scorching hot water gushed down over the Shadow. The Shadow cried out in pain and began to… melt?

Soon the Shadow was now just an inky puddle. It soaked into the ground and disappeared.

"All right Maxie!" cheered Tyson as he ran towards his friend, totally forgetting about the barrier.

"Tyson watch out!" called Rei but Tyson continued running and, nothing happened! The barrier had vanished when the Shadow disappeared. Rei ran over to congratulate the blonde teen also.

"Come on. We should start walking again." Suggested Max.

_'The task is complete. The Shadow has bowed his head in defeat.'_

"Oh yeah! Even the sword is cheering for you Max!" Tyson pat his friend on the back.

"Come. Max is right. We should continue forward," said Rei and the group began walking again.

* * *

The sword stopped them again.

_'The next battle is about to begin. To move forward you must win.'_

As the sword finished his little riddle, another creature appeared, this time rising up out of the ground. The group were surprised to see another Shadow. This time it pointed to Tyson. Tyson stepped forward with a smug look on his face.

"Alright bring it on!" he shouted. Rei winced as Tyson's loud voice echoed through the forest. Rei and Max stayed back, knowing they would not be able to reach Tyson with the barrier up.

The Shadow raised his arms stiffly and two large boulders rose from the ground.

Tyson raised his arms above his head before going around in a circle with them. Two balls of air spun above each hand. Tyson threw them both at the two boulders, smashing them to pieces. As Tyson threw the first two, two more appeared and he threw those at the Shadow, who grunted in pain each time they hit. Tyson continued this and the Shadow started weakening.

Tyson soon stopped and started another attack. He held both arms out to the one side and started spinning. As he spun faster and faster, a tornado formed around Tyson, obscuring him from view. The tornado made its way to the Shadow and when it hit the Shadow the creature was sent flying, howling in pain. It landed sprawled out on the floor and just as the one from before, disappeared into the earth.

Tyson walked triumphantly over to his friends and flashed a smile.

"Nice job Ty!" Max smiled at the navy haired teen.

"Agreed" said Rei, also smiling.

_'Another victory, another win. Two to go then the true battle will_ _begin.'_

"Two? But there's only Rei left." Max looked at his friends puzzled. They just shrugged before walking again.

* * *

Rei had been admiring the sword when Max had wished him good luck. Rei looked up to find _another _Shadow. With a sigh, Rei handed the sword to Max and stepped forward. The Shadow stepped forward from the tree it had been leaning against. Rei got into an attack stance and the Shadow swirled its hands around him, creating strong winds.

Rei straight away attacked. He raised his hands above his head and like the Shadow who battled Tyson, two large boulders rose from the ground. Rei jumped up and spun in midair with one of his legs outstretched and kicked the boulders towards the Shadow. The Shadow went to use the wind currents to stop the attack but the wind wasn't strong enough and the Shadow was crushed under the two boulders.

Rei raised his arms above his head before bringing them down and slamming them down on the ground. The boulders rose when Rei raised his hands, (giving the group time to see the crumpled body underneath.) and they smashed back down onto the Shadow when Rei brought his hands back down.

Rei continued this until the Shadow seeped into the earth.

After getting congratulated, Rei took the sword from Max and they began walking again.

* * *

They arrived at a large opening and found the three Shadows standing there waiting there for them.

"Final battle! Begin!" the tree Shadows chorused before getting ready to attack. Max and Tyson started battling while Rei quickly placed the sword near a tree then joined in.

The three boys were shocked to find that their attacks from earlier were useless. Rei decided it was time to try the new combo he had been working on; he just hoped that he wouldn't have to use his Guardian form. For some reason he didn't want these things knowing whom he was. Rei closed his eyes and placed his hands together, making it look like he was praying. He slid one hand down so that the tips of the fingers were touching the base of the other hand. He slid his legs out slightly and squatted. He flicked his eyes open and raised his arms above his head. A whole pile of rocks and boulders rose from the ground and electricity formed in the palms of Rei's hands.

"THUNDER CLAP!!!" he yelled, bringing his hands down, clapped and then stretched them out in front of him, palms facing outwards, sending the rocks and boulders flying while surging with electricity. The attack caused the Shadow to seep into the ground once more.

* * *

Tyson swirled his arms, strong winds surrounding him and the Shadow. His arm movements got stronger and stiffer, the winds becoming more vicious and fierce, so fierce and strong that they started to rip up plants and rocks. Tyson then used the winds like a gravity force and changed the direction of the wind to come right down onto the Shadow until it was forced to melt disappear into the ground of be flattened.

* * *

Max lifted water so that it swirled around him in a circle once more. Max spun slowly and gracefully, slowly raising his arms as he did. More water made its way up and soon a wall of water surrounded the blonde teen. Max stopped spinning and faced the Shadow, arms still raised.

"Bye!" Max said cheerily before turning serious once more and flung his arm down by his sides, the water wall falling and creating a huge wave that swept the Shadow up. When the wave stopped, Max watched as the Shadow melted into the ground again.

* * *

"Well that's that." Stated Max as he joined the other two teens.

* * *

"He's right. I still smell the stench of the Shadow's." stated Rei as he sniffed the air. "There!" he cried as he spotted the last one. It was taller then the others and clearly stronger.

_'No individual attack will hurt, work together if you wish to see him eat dirt.'_

"Ok if you say so…" Tyson shrugged and looked at the other two. They hadn't done a partner or group attack in ages, and last time it was for fun.

"I've got it!" exclaimed Max. "Just do what I say! Rei! Trap him!"

Rei swiftly lifted his right arm so that it crossed over his chest and rested against his left shoulder then repeated the same with his left arm. The ground around the shade ripple before rising strongly and wrapping itself around the Shadow so that only it's head was seen. The Shadow started fighting back and struggling. Rei frowned in concentration.

"Tyson take my hands then did what you did against the first Shadow, with the tornado. You'll need to spin us both and I'll throw water into the attack. Then when we hit him, he should go!" Tyson did what he was told and took Max's hands. He then started spinning, slowly picking up speed.

"Hurry Tyson! I don't think I'll be able to hold him much longer!" grunted Rei, clenching his fists and making the mud case, so to speak, stronger.

Soon Max and Tyson were at full speed and they bashed into the Shadow, sending him flying where he hit a tree and sunk to the ground, seeping into the ground.

Rei sighed as he relaxed his arms. Max and Tyson came over, grinning like maniacs.

"Way to go Max! It worked!" exclaimed Rei flashing the teen a smile, fangs peeping over his bottom lip.

_'Come on to find the one. Finally, the task is done.'_

As the group finally reached the end of the forest, they smiled at each other before running out into clear land.

"Now where is this cave?" asked Tyson as he and the others scanned the premises.

"Hey!"

"What's wrong Rei?" asked Max as he turned to the neko jin who pointed to the sword which was… hovering in midair!

_'Follow me and I shall lead it is finally time for you to meet.'_ **(Yer that was kinda stretched but I couldn't think of anything!)** It then started flying off.

"Hey!" Rei cried again as they chased after it.

* * *

After some time they rounded a corner and found that the sword had stopped. A metre away from it was a figure sitting on a large rock. He cocked his head to the side and said, "So, you actually managed to pass."

Then Tyson said the smartest thing that came to mind. "Huh?" yeah real smooth.

The teen hopped off the rock and started circling them, his chocolate eyes never leaving them.

"You passed my tests. You really are the Guardians." He held out his hand and the sword flew into it. The teen placed it back into its sheath.

"Thank you for returning my sword."

"Your sword? It does not belong to you! It belongs to Fire!" objected Rei. The teen stopped.

"But I am Fire."

"No you're not! Fire had dual coloured hair, crimson eyes, and two blue triangles on each cheek. He also was all in black."

"But I do have blue triangles."

"Yes but they are also a tribal mark so that doesn't make you him just because he may be from the same tribe!"

"Aah… I see. You do not see it. Here I shall have to show you then." The teen waved his hand across his eyes and they turned crimson! The crimson depths swirled and his hair went from black to dual coloured.

"There? Happy?"

"But I just told you what he looked like! You could have easily used magic to make yourself look like that! What do you want?"

"Tell me more about this Fire then so that I can prove that it is truly me!"

"Dranzer! The phoenix Goddess!" the teen raised his eyebrows before nodding. In a flash, the beautiful phoenix from earlier stood before them.

"I…it really is you!"

"That is what I have been trying to tell you! Now come inside the cave so you can rest up and I'll explain everything to you. We have to meet Master Dickinson soon also."

They started following but Tyson stopped. "What's your name?"

The teen stopped and looked back at them, his crimson eyes still as penetrating as before. "Kai."

* * *

**tada! wow! 2 updates 4 2 diff stories in 1 day! i feel so proud! but really, how lame was this chappie? i cant believe i stuffed it up dat much! i vow to make it up to u! (i hope)**

**byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**kavbj**


	3. Chapter 3 Challenge 2

**Chapter 3 – Challenge 2**

* * *

As they entered the cave, Kai grinned. "Welcome!" he said cheerily, looking to the others. He cocked his head to the side and continued smiling. He sat down on a rock and watched them as intently as he had done before. Glancing at each other, the three sat down and looked to Kai.

"So… we have Rei, Guardian of lightning and thunder and a little bit of earth. We shall have to improve your skills with earth but you and Drigger are fairly strong already. Good.

Max, Guardian of water and holder of Draciel. Your attacks are fairly powerful but we can make some excellent defence using water.

And Tyson, Guardian of air. You also hold Dragoon. You are similar to Max but you also need to learn a few more techniques for offence." Kai pointed out everything about them.

"How do you know so much about us and yet we know so little about you!" demanded Tyson.

"Temper, temper. You need to watch that, it could become a problem in battle." Drawled Kai, smiling again. "If you wish to know about me then you may but now is not the time. The results from your test were rather impressive but there is a lot you need to improve on."

"Test? What 'test' are you talking about?" asked Max.

"The one you just completed. Do not think I would just leave one of my most prized possessions lying in the middle of some opening. No. I left it there for a reason. It was to lead you to me. Those Shadows were also set up by me. I wished to see what abilities you possessed already and I did. Now I expect the Elders have told you all you need to know? Tell me what you know already."

"Well, we know about the tablet and the prophecy. We know a little about the history of the Guardians and we have been trained to use our magic in combat as well as our gifts and…" Rei quietened thinking of what else there was.

"That's it!" exclaimed Kai, looking at them shocked. He sighed. "What about the task, or how it was all started or even about your beast."

"Well we know a little bit about all of that!" Rei protested defensively.

"Look enough!" interjected Tyson, "you know what we don't know so how about you tell us about yourself and who this Master Dickinson is that we have to see."

"I have already told you, you will not be told about my past or who I am just yet. But I will tell you about Master Dickinson. I am surprised you have not heard of him. He is part of the Leading Elders and we need to go see him because he needs to know that we have united." Kai's attitude had changed quickly. He went from happy and calm to cold but still calm. He glared at Tyson who quickly looked away.

"We leave now." Continued Kai, his voice chilling to the bone. He stood and left the cave; the fire that had been lit went out with a wave of his hand. Tyson and the others scrambled to their feet and quickly hurried after Kai.

* * *

They had been walking for some time now and Kai had always been in front, making sure to keep a distance between him and the others. Max and Tyson continued talking while Rei observed Kai attentively. He held himself with poise and was oozing with confidence. He was seemingly intimidating and cold. But then again, he had been extremely warm just before. His clothes were different from before. They were just simple clothes, a long brown cloak covering most. He held his chin high and Rei raised an eyebrow as Kai's hair went from the dual blues to silky black and most certainly, his eyes were no longer crimson.

"Why do you do that?" asked Rei.

"Do what Rei?" queried Tyson, looking at his friend puzzled.

"That thing, where Kai changes his hair and eye colour."

"Oh, oh I know! He won't tell you! It'll be something along the lines of, 'I shall not tell you of my past just yet, it is irrelevant just now.'" Tyson flashed a grin after he completed his Kai impersonation.

"Wow Tyson, I didn't think someone as clueless as yourself would know the word irrelevant let alone be able to use it in a sentence." Kai retorted, his voice icy and yet it held a strange sense of calm.

"I know! Neither did I! It's amazing isn't it!" exclaimed Tyson. Rei and Max looked at Tyson as if he had completely lost it. Kai looked back and raised an eyebrow before shaking it off and facing the front again.

"Well getting back to Rei's original question, why **do** you do it Kai?" asked Max, he too looking away from Tyson and back to where he was going.

"I have my reasons. I'm sure someone as smart as Tyson could figure it out. Isn't that right Tyson?"

"Well, I think so…" Tyson answered slowly, causing everyone to look at him weirdly again.

* * *

"Hello again Kai." Kai looked up from the oh-so interesting ground to see who had greeted him, there leaning against a tree was another Shadow.

"Haven't we done enough tests already?" whined Tyson.

Kai smirked. "Why hello Donovan, good to see you. Oh and to answer your question Tyson, yes this is another test, but it will be different. No magic, just combat. I wish to see how well you can fight hand to hand, with weapons and which weapons you choose to fight with. But I warn you, this will be more difficult then the one you have just completed." Rei eyed Kai suspiciously when he greeted 'Donovan'. The voice Kai had used was odd. It was sickeningly sweet, extremely charming and totally fake. Donovan noticed too as he narrowed his eyes. His orders from his boss did not mention some annoying smart-ass kid. It also wasn't part of the plan for them to **not** use magic.

Max looked between each person before settling his eyes on Donovan. Behind the Shadow, Max could see something coming up on the road and pondered on what is was.

"Max, stay focused, this is not the time to be thinking of something so unimportant at this moment of time. Prepare yourself for battle." Max was surprised. How did Kai know what he was looking at when Max was behind him? And how did Kai know that he was wondering what the object up ahead was? Getting back on task, Max pulled out two sapphire daggers and got ready to fight.

Rei slid into the stance many from his village used for combat. From a pouch sitting on his thigh he pulled out two kunai and a few shuriken.

Tyson pulled out a curved sword. His grandfather had given it to him as a gift for his birthday last year. His grandfather had called it Sword of the Storms. Tyson had liked the name and it stuck.

Kai just stood ready, no weapons drawn. He looked at Donovan rather bored and yawned. Looking up to the sky, Kai frowned. They had to be at Master Dickinson's before nightfall, and that was in about 2 hours and the walk was an hour long and who knew how long this fight was going to take.

Donovan clicked his fingers and a group of 5 or 6 Shadows emerged from the trees behind Donovan. They each formed their own weapons, each weapon an inky black, just like the Shadows themselves.

"Now be careful. I shall tell you if magic is allowed but for now it isn't." ordered Kai.

"Now, GO!!" both Donovan and Kai shouted. The two groups charged forward, no plans involved losing.

There was one Shadow on Max, Tyson and Rei each while the other 4 circled Kai. Donovan grinned evilly.

"So Kai, are you still as great as they say. Many rumours have come about you." He drawled.

"Well I myself wouldn't know now would I? How about you let me see if I am by assisting me? I'm sure we both know the outcome of this battle do we not?" replied Kai as he cocked his head to the side and smirked.

Donovan narrowed his eyes. "Well, if it involves you losing then yes. You should know this; the Shadow's here are some of the strongest in the realm, they won't be defeated easily especially not by the likes of you." Kai's smirk grew.

* * *

Rei stole a glimpse over at the others. Both Tyson and Max were holding their own for the moment but as they had discovered, these Shadow's were bloody powerful. Rei glanced over at Kai to find him… doing nothing. He was just standing there, appearing to have a stare down with Donovan. Donovan seemed to lose his patience first as he held his sword high and brought it down at Kai who blocked the attack with his own sword, but not the one from earlier. Following their leaders example, the other Shadows surrounding Kai attacked and soon a 4:1 battle was going, the sounds of swords clanging and bashing together ringing through the air.

Rei quickly through his shuriken at the opposing Shadow and dodged the kunai that his enemy sent flying back. Rei charged forward and landed a few punches and kicks before having to block those of the Shadow's.

* * *

Tyson twirled the sword in his hands before bringing it down on his opponents. Tyson panted, as they broke apart. Holding the sword in front of himself once again, he attacked again and started speeding up his attacks before finally landing a blow. The sword was about to plunge through the stomach of the Shadow when suddenly a hole appeared and the sword went right through, doing absolutely no damage. Tyson reared back, shocked. The Shadow looked up to face Tyson and smirked. Tyson growled and lunged forward again.

* * *

Max held the daggers tightly. He too had discovered that he could cause no harm to the Shadow. So he would just have to… well Max didn't know what just yet but he would think of something soon. And as the Shadow went to strike, Max saw his opportunity. He crossed the daggers over each other to block the attack, also catching the oncoming sword between the two daggers. Max twisted the daggers and sword with flicks of his wrists and sent the sword flying out of the Shadow's hands, at least now Max had an advantage.

* * *

Kai new the weaknesses of the Shadows and had quickly defeated those surrounding him. He stood panting slightly and looked over at the others who were beginning to tire. Max seemed to be tiring the most but he was the youngest. Kai ran over to help Max.

Max smiled greatfully at Kai as he saw the teen approach from behind the Shadow. Kai motioned for him to stay quiet and Max obeyed. He kept fighting, all the while keeping an eye on Kai. Kai set up his bow and arrow and aimed it at the Shadow's heart. Releasing the bow, the arrow flew forward and pierced the Shadow right through its heart. The Shadow hissed and spun around to face the person responsible only to find another arrow coming at it, which pierced it through its forehead. The Shadow cried out before vanishing. The two remaining Shadow's stopped what they were doing and made their way stealthily towards Kai, who was making sure that Max was ok. The two Shadows suddenly appeared behind Kai, ready to make the final blow.

"Kai! Look out!" warned Max as he stared at Kai with big frightened eyes. Kai smiled and quickly unsheathed two of the swords sitting on his hips. He pushed them both backwards, plunging through the two hearts. Kai spun and withdrew the swords. As he did, the two Shadows fell to the ground. Rei watched carefully as Kai then pierced through the two foreheads. What shocked Rei the most was the fact that Kai was smiling. He looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Rei shook his head. There was something very different with this one.

* * *

"Well you have passed once more."

"Kai why did you kill the Shadows if you were the one they were working for?" asked Tyson.

"I have not killed them."

"But…"

"It is none of your concern!" Kai cut Tyson off sternly. "Now we do not have much time. We shall have to fly to Master Dickinson's. Tyson you take Max, I'll take Rei." Kai closed his eyes and as he opened them, his crimson wings appeared. He flapped them once and rose into the air, he hovered above the group, clearly waiting for Tyson.

"Well?" Kai demanded, getting impatient. Kai flew over to Rei and grabbed under his arms and gently lifted him off of the ground. Rei gave a yelp of surprise before relaxing. "Hurry up Tyson and get Max!"

"B…but I can't fly!" exclaimed Tyson.

"What do you mean? Of course you can! Now hurry up!"

"I can't fly! I don't even have wings."

Kai looked at Tyson, shocked, almost dropping Rei. "What?!"

"I don't have wings." Tyson repeated slowly.

Kai placed Rei back on the ground before standing next to him. "How could you not have wings? Your spirit is Dragoon! You must have been taught how to fly or at least how to hide and show your wings!"

"No! I wasn't even told I would have wings!"

"Great! Just great! Look's like we have more work to do then I originally thought! Why, oh why me?" Kai closed his eyes and sighed. He reopened them again after finally having calmed down.

"Then I guess we'll just have teleport or use a portal or something."

"What?!" chorused the others.

"Don't tell me you haven't travelled via those before!"

"We have but… usually someone of great power is only able to open a stable portal or teleport over vast distances!" explained Max.

"In other words you don't think I can do it and you yourselves cant do it."

"Well… yes. That's about right." Rei replied sheepishly.

"You'll be fine. Its easy."

"But some of the Elder's cant even do it!" protested Tyson.

"Get this into your thick skull! There is more to me then you see! I am not one of the Elders and neither are you! We are stronger and more powerful then the Elders and I do not see why you look up to them when they haven't even prepared you guys properly!" with that, Kai rolled up his pants so that his shin was showing. There strapped to his leg was a dagger. Kai undid the strap and let his pant leg fall back down. Rei frowned. Kai seemed to have weapons everywhere. There were four swords sitting on his hips, a pouch on his other hip, a pouch around his thigh and upper arm and now he's drawing daggers out from under his pants! Who knew what else there was?

Kai held the dagger out in front of him and was searching for something. When he found it, he plunged the dagger forward and then tore a diagonal lie downwards. A portal opened and Kai put the dagger away.

"Well, come on." He said as he stepped through, exchanging glances, the group followed.

* * *

Out from behind the trees stepped an extremely injured Donovan. He looked at the the remaining **dead** Shadows before looking at the now closing portal.

* * *

**ta da! sorry if it isnt very long... i hope you enjoyed it though! byeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**kavbj.**

**o and thanks to those who reviewed! i am also now on three wk long holidays! yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so u know what that means!**

"rot in hell Kai Hiwatari, rot in hell."


	4. Chapter 4 Deafening Silence

**Chapter 4 - Deafening Silence**

An ageing man stood outside a largish hut, clearly expecting someone or something.

_'Where is he? He said before nightfall, which is in what? Half an hour? I hope he hasn't gotten himself in to trouble. Again.'_ Just as the thoughts ran through the mans head, a portal opened in front of him and out stepped 4 teens.

The man clutched his heart. "Kai, you gave me a fright then."

The mentioned teen turned and looked at the man, his chocolate eyes softening. Kai bowed and greeted the man. "It is wonderful to be in your presence once more Master Dickinson."

"Always so formal." The man had laughing eyes that constantly twinkled. He was short and stubby, dressed in a white and pale blue robe. His bushy moustache twitched as his upper lip moved into a smile. "I see you have found pleasant company for our meeting. Please, do come inside." Master Dickinson held the door open for the group as they walked in, as Kai walked in last he exchanged glances with the old man before turning his attention back to the teens he had been travelling with that day.

* * *

"So, I see you have already had some adventure." Remarked Master Dickinson as he eyed their ruffled clothes and the dirt smeared across their skin.

"You could say that." Replied Rei, giving the Elder a warm smile, which was returned.

"Kai is there really a need for disguise?"

"No. My apologies Master Dickinson, sir. It won't happen again." Kai bowed once more before waving his hand over his eyes and his features returned to normal.

Concern showed on Master Dickinson's face but it quickly passed.

"Well I have asked for someone to make us some tea and it should be here soon. I also believe there is some kind of dessert, so I hope you are hungry."

Tyson perked up at this. "Tea? Dessert? Dessert as in food? Oh thank you, thank you, **thank you**! I am **starving**!"

"Once you get him started I doubt you'll be able to get him to stop. The dessert will disappear in seconds." Uttered Max.

Master Dickinson gave a hearty chuckle. "I see. Quite the appetite 'ey? Reminds me of someone I know, or, knew." Again the glance to Kai. Rei narrowed his eyes. Something was up.

* * *

_**Kai**_

Kai leant against the wall, arms crossed and eyes closed. The glances from Master Dickinson did not go unnoticed, as did the suspicious glances from Rei. Opening his eyes, Kai turned and looked out of the window next to him. He watched as the last rays of the sun disappeared and the light of the moon replaced the light that shone throughout the day. Closing his eyes, Kai focused on channelling more of his magical energy.

'_We will rest soon, correct Maser?'_

'_Yes Dranzer, we will.'_

Kai reopened his eyes when he heard his name called. Rei was smiling at him and saying something but Kai couldn't understand and soon the sound faded and Kai couldn't hear anything. Kai looked at Rei again. Rei was looking at him concerned and so were the others. Master Dickinson was heading over to him and saying something but again, Kai got none of it.

_'Calm down Kai. Remember you can lip read just, relax.'_ Kai thought as he focused on Master Dickinson's lips. He could read them but couldn't understand the words!

_'Dranzer what's going on?'_

_'I don't know Master! But it'll be all right just relax and do as I say. You need to clo…'_

_'Dranzer? Dranzer?! Dranzer! Ok breathe Kai. Do not let any emotion get through or in the way. Just, breathe.'_ Closing his eyes Kai began breathing deeply. He would breathe in, count to 3, then release. As he would breathe out smoke would escape, flames soon added as the breathing became deeper.

* * *

**_The Others_**

Rei called Kai but got no response. He called again and Kai opened his eyes. Rei smiled. "Welcome to the real world." Kai just looked at him blankly. Panic flashed through Kai's eyes.

"Kai? Kai, what's wrong?" asked Rei as his brow creased.

"Kai? Kai my boy are you alright?" questioned Master Dickinson as he walked over to Kai. Rei watched as the panic returned but disappeared as quickly as before. Rei followed Kai's eyes to Master Dickinson's lips. Kai seemed to be focusing on them but he quickly looked up again, the panic now clearly evident on his face. Rei watched as Kai closed his eyes and started breathing deeply.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Tyson as he stood next to Rei.

"I'm not sure. I've never seen him like this." Replied Master Dickinson as he looked at Kai. He then looked out the window and saw it was nighttime. "That must be it!"

"What?"

"Fire Manipulators draw power from the sun. They are at their weakest at night but don't take them for granted. They are still extremely powerful. They also teach themselves to draw power from the moon. The sunlight reflects from the moon, giving the moon its light so they draw from that power. It must have something to do with that." As Master Dickinson explained this to the teens he turned back to Kai who had wisps of smoke coming from his mouth each time he breathed out.

"Aah!" cried Tyson as flames erupted from Kai's mouth. Tyson quickly hid behind Rei. "**Now** what is he doing?"

Master Dickinson chuckled. "He is merely meditating. As each breath becomes deeper, he draws upon his inner fire. Max, I know you have premonitions but you wouldn't happen to be empathic either would you?"

"Empa- what?"

"Guess not. I believe we just wait until Kai is done and then see if he will tell us what was wrong." The group sat down and talked but Rei's eyes ever left Kai.

* * *

_**Kai**_

Kai could feel the fire escaping his mouth as he fell into a meditative state.

_'Dranzer? Are you there? Please don't leave me! Please! I don't want to be alone! Not again! Not a-'_ Kai gasped as a searing pain spread through out his body.

_'Aah! No! Please! Make the pain go away! Dranzer I need you! DRANZER!!!!!!'_

* * *

_**The Others**_

Rei rushed to Kai as he slid down the wall and sunk to the floor.

"Kai? Kai?!" the flames erupting from Kai's mouth ceased and the teen began whimpering.

"Kai? Kai it's ok. What's wrong? You can tell us. Kai?" Rei lifted Kai's chin as he spoke to him gently.

"DRANZER!!!!!!" Kai's eyes snapped open to meet Rei's own amber eyes.

"Kai? What about Dranzer?" Rei asked frantically.

"I can't hear her! I can't feel her, nothing! I can't understand anything and now I can't even hear it! Wait! I can hear you! I can…" Kai looked up at those behind Rei. "I can hear it all. Everything."

_'Dranzer?'_

_"Ssh Master. It is ok. I am here.'_

_'Dranzer what just happened?'_

_'I wish I knew. You are changing Master and even I do not what will happen.'_

_'Dranzer! You have to know something… about… what's going… on…'_

_'Master? Master! **Kai!**'_

Rei stared at Kai as he kept blinking, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Kai come on you must be tired, I'll help you up." Whispered Rei as he hauled Kai up, only to have him fall to the ground again.

"Look, you all must be tired. I will get someone to set up your rooms and we will talk about this in the morning. Tyson, Max if you are hungry then come with me and I'll whip something up, we can have the dessert and tea tomorrow. Rei if you would like to go with who ever I send and make sure Kai is alright and I can get some food for you also." Master Dickinson smiled warmly at the three teens as they nodded.

Rei picked up the now slumbering Kai and carried him bridal style. As he followed the man that Master Dickinson had sent, he looked down at Kai's face. He looked peaceful; different from the face he had seen earlier that day. Rei frowned as he placed Kai on the bed. There was much they had yet to discover about Kai, and Rei was determined to do so.

* * *

**yer it was short but i had this as an idea for the nxt chappie and i'm tired so i couldnt make it longa as i culdnt think properly and also if i didnt write this down then i'd forget it. then i thought, 'hey why not put this up already?' and ta da!**

**well more is on it's way!**

**byeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**kavbj**


	5. Chapter 5 Training and Explaining

**Chapter 5** **Training and Explaining**

Rei replaced the cloth on Kai's forehead with a new one. When Rei had come in to leave some food for Kai, he had found the teen shaking badly and with a high fever.

Rei rested his head against Kai's bed as he looked up at his fellow Guardian. Rei's ears twitched as they tried to pick up and make sense of the words Kai had began muttering. Leaning in, Rei frowned at the words leaving Kai's mouth.

"No… go away! Who are you?… what do you want? Where… where's Dranzer? …. Stop it! Go! A - way!" Kai fell silent again. Rei sat up and stared quizzically at the sleeping boy. _'What was that all about?'_

_'He is probably just having a nightmare.'_

_'Mm. Drigger can you contact Dranzer? You can contact other spirits can't you?'_

_'Yes to the second question… no to the first.'_

_'Why?'_

_'Well, I can just not now. Dranzer isn't where she should be, and there is no sign of her anyway in the spiritual realm or in Kai's mind or soul. There is just this cold darkness lingering around.'_

_'Oh ok. Keep me posted and tell me immediately if anything happens'_

_'Sure thing.'_

_'You really are a strange one aren't you? Highly mysterious. A challenge.'_ Rei thought to himself as he looked at the teen in question.

"Rei?"

"Hm? Oh! Hey Kai! How you feeling?"

"Like I've been to the realm of the dead and back again. Twice." Replied Kai, sitting up slowly.

Rei chuckled. "Kai, what happened back there?"

"What do you mean?"

"You totally zoned out on us! Then you panicked and then you were whimpering as if you were in pain. Next you struggled to even stay awake and now you have finally woken up after 3 days and you have a fever! **That's** what I mean!"

"What are you talking about? I thought Tyson and Max were the ones with the overactive imaginations! Guess not! Nothing happened Rei! When we arrived I went straight to bed!"

"Then you must have been **real** tired for you to sleep for 3 days!"

"3 days! How on earth could I have slept for three days? we would have had the full moon already then!"

"Well it has! The full moon was yesterday night."

Kai was silent. "Explain to me what happened. And don't leave anything out."

So Rei explained it all, how Kai began to panic and wouldn't respond, to how he ended up falling asleep against the wall. Rei told him about the fever and the nightmares, leaving the one that had just occurred out.

"And then we end up here." Completed Rei, looking at Kai to see his reaction. Kai was looking at his hands, which rested in his lap. Balling his fists he looked up at Rei.

"You're lying." He accused. "You've left something out at the end. Now tell me what it is Kon! You do and I'll explain a few things to you!"

Rei was surprised. How did Kai know that he had left the recent nightmare out and how did Kai know his family name when he hadn't told it to Kai, and Max and Tyson had most certainly not mentioned it to Kai.

_'Rei I have found Dranzer but…'_

_'Go on.'_

_'Something isn't right.'_

_'How so?'_ Rei asked mentally, remembering back to how Kai had snapped out of his 'trance' screaming for his phoenix.

_'Wait to see what Kai says. Then I shall tell you'_

"Well there was another nightmare, you started muttering and you seemed frightened. When I leaned in to make out what you were saying you were asking someone to leave you alone and where Dranzer was and things like that."

Kai had paled and was looking away from Rei. When he spoke, his voice was calm and cold.

"I am sorry for showing weakness, to let my emotions get through. I am willing to accept the punishment. It shall not happen again." Kai bowed his head.

"… Huh? Kai what on earth are you talking about?"

Kai raised his head, eyes empty of all emotion, his face passive.

"I showed emotion, it deserves punishment, no?"

"No! Why would emotion deserve punishment?"

"I –"

"Look forget it. How about we go get some fresh air?"

Kai nodded and stood. Placing his hand on the wall to balance himself, Kai clutched his head as everything spun.

"Kai are y – "

"I'm fine."

"How did y – "

"Because it was obvious." Kai pushed himself off the wall.

"Kai you should probably just lay back down. You've still got a pretty high fever."

"Look Kon I'm fine. Feel my forehead if you don't believe me."

Leaning forward, Rei did as Kai suggested, staring into Kai's crimson depths and Kai staring back with equal force. Rei pulled away.

"It's… gone."

"Hn." Kai began to walk again but Rei grabbed him.

"Wait Kai – ow!" Rei cradled his hand and looked at Kai, expecting an explanation.

"Nothing unusual."

_'Wow that explains everything.'_ Thought Rei as he rolled his eyes.

"Come. If I have been sleeping for as long as you said, then we must get things started and quickly, before the power of the full moon leaves us."

Rei watched the teen walk out of the room. He looked down at his hand, expecting to see a burn mark but there was nothing. Rei turned it over but there was nothing. Looking at his palm again, Rei gasped as a strange silver light hit. The place where the burn mark should've been was a silvery blue. It changed into gold then red before turning back to the silvery blue. A whispery hissing sound echoed through the small room and the mark turned black and started growing, curling up Rei's arm. Rei screamed in pain and clawed at the mark as it sent a searing pain up his arm and burned his skin. The mark began growing faster and soon it was at Rei's elbow, showing no sign of stopping. Rei screamed again as the pain intensified ten fold, he tried using some of the healing methods he had learnt from the Elders at his village but no such luck. There was a knocking at the door, causing Rei to look up.

"Rei are you ok?" it was Tyson and Max would probably be there too.

"Yeah I'm fine." Rei lied as he looked at his hand. The black mark had receded and was now the size it had begun at, still flashing between the four colours. Looking around, Rei spotted his gloves lying on the floor where he had been sitting earlier. Rei walked over and hurriedly pulled them on, covering the mark just as the 2 boys walked in.

"We heard you scream." Explained Tyson as his eyes wandered around the room before finally landing on Rei.

Rei forced a smile, trying to ignore the throbbing in his hand. "Oh that, it was nothing, it's all sorted now."

Max nodded slowly, not so sure, before looking past Rei at the empty bed. "Rei, where's Kai?"

"Didn't he come out?"

"We didn't see him."

"Boys?" the three looked at the intruder.

"Oh hey Master Dickinson!" Tyson greeted.

"Hello. Kai is outside waiting for you."

"Um… ok. We'll go there now." Confirmed Tyson as he exchanged puzzled glances with his friends.

* * *

"Huh! Huh! Huh! Argh!" these were the sounds that greeted the 3 teens as they stepped outside. They watched as Kai stood on one foot, pivoted with his arms out and flames erupting out to the sides. He jumped up in the air still in the same position before coming down and slamming his fist on the ground, one leg in a squatting sort of position while the other was going out to the side and was straight. From where Kai's fist met the ground, more flames erupted before rippling outwards. Flattening his hand against the rocky ground, he pushed himself up so he was balancing on the one hand, legs in the air; he bent his arm and launched himself into the air once more before flipping and landing gracefully and silently on the ground. He looked to the watching teens, eyes boring into them. His face was clear of all emotion and was set into a cold mask.

"I am sure Master Dickinson has already told you that I shall be training and preparing you." The group nodded. "Good. Then practice begins now." Kai led them to an open area, enclosed by a ragged rock wall. Behind the group was a set of trees and a pond.

"I train differently to most so you are warned." Moving quickly, Kai raced to each member, so fast he was just a blur. Clipping onto each of their wrists were beautiful golden bangles. Kai stopped so that he was in front of them once more and clipped a set onto his own wrists.

"What are these?" asked Max as he looked at the glimmering bangles on each of his wrists.

"Bangles."

"Ok then… what are they for?"

"Training."

Max looked at Kai, beginning to get frustrated. "Well what do they do?"

"They stop magical energy flow. You will not be able to use the magical energy of a Guardian or Manipulator."

"In other words, we can't use any of our magic or powers." Tyson stated bluntly.

"No. You can. You can use basic magic and skills." Seeing their confused looks, Kai said, "do you want to know how I moved so fast?" they nodded. "Then all you have to do is concentrate and use your magical energy."

"But you said these bangles stop the flow!" exasperated Rei

Kai shook his head. "No I didn't! As I stated after, only the magical energy of a Guardian or Manipulator. There are plenty of people, who are not Manipulators but still use magic. And that is what I am going teach you to do. There will be times where either you wont be able to use your elemental powers or they wont be of any use. When that happens, having these skills and knowing how to control them can be extremely handy." Turning to the cliff face, Kai held his outstretched hand in front of him and focused on a loose rock. Slowly but surely, the rock begun to rise so that it was soon hovering in the air. Kai moved his hand and the rock moved also. Pulling his hand back, Kai then pushed it forward again and the rock went flying into the cliff, smashing as it did so.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Max. Kai walked over to them.

"Give it a try." He instructed. "Focus solely on the rock you wish to move and when you have blocked out everything else and you are completely focused, it should rise and you will be able to levitate the rock how ever you wish to." The three teens copied what Kai had done earlier and did as he had told them.

"Ow!" cried Tyson. Max was rubbing his wrists and Rei was frowning at the bangles.

"What?" asked Kai, trying hard not to smirk.

"The bangles! They zapped me!" answered Tyson, Max and Rei voicing their agreement. Kai tutted.

"Because you are using the wrong magical energy. Forget about how you usually use you magic, forget about it all. Use just the basic magic. Don't use your Manipulator or Guardian magical energy." Going around, Kai fixed up their stances, telling them to loosen up.

"Now try again, but this time, try going closer to the cliff." Max and Tyson did so while Rei stayed where he was. When he was sure no one was looking, he gently massaged his still throbbing hand.

"That must be a real bother Rei." Rei quickly looked to Kai, who was still looking at the others. He turned to Rei and walked over to him. Swiftly, he grabbed Rei's wrist and held it in his vice grip.

"Hey!" cried Rei.

Turning to face Rei, Tyson demanded, "Rei wha – Hey! Kai! What are you doing? Let him go!" Kai glared at Tyson and at Max as the blonde haired teen opened his mouth to say something before quickly closing it.

Kai looked at Rei again and stared him in the eye as he removed Rei's glove. Forcefully turning Rei's hand over, Kai continued looking Rei in the eye, who looked away. Tyson and Max, who had walked over, gasped seeing the flashing mark on Rei's palm. Kai looked down at Rei's hand and… stared.

Kai's eyes glazed over as he became completely mesmerised by the mark. Kai dropped Rei's glove on the ground.

_**Kai's POV**_

That mark. I can' stop looking at it.

_'You will be mine. I shall have you.'_

That voice it's just like…

_**Flashback (still Kai's POV)**_

_'You will be mine. I shall have you.'_

'Wha… what? Who's there?'

_'You will be mine. I shall have you.'_

'Why do you want me? And where's Dranzer?' I looked around to find myself surrounded my nothing but darkness. Looking in front of me again, I gasped, as there in front of me were two eyes. No face no body, nada. Just… eyes. They held so much pain and sorrow. They blinked and directed themselves at me. Rage and betrayal swirled in their icy blue depths. The colour of them was so… cold. Not just because they were icy blue but the eyes themselves were cold. No emotion. Just like mine.

_'Why Kai? Why?'_ a voice whispered, different to the first. A crystalline tear fell from the eyes, making its way down an unseen cheek. The eyes disappeared and the voice from earlier returned.

_'Let me have you, and I can take this all away.'_

'What are you talking about?'

_'You will be mine. I shall have you'_

**_End flashback, end of Kai's POV_  
**

"Kai? You can stop staring now. Kai?" Rei tried to get a glimpse at Kai's face, but Kai's bangs were covering his eyes so all that could be seen was the smirk on Kai's lips.

Kai tipped his head up and arched his back as his wings emerged from his shoulder blades. He looked back down again, this time; Rei was able to see Kai's eyes. They were glassy and distant; slowly they began glowing until they were glowing a bright crimson. As the wings and Kai's eyes faded to black, Drigger cried desperately to his master; _'Dranzer's losing control!'_

The mark on Rei's hand turned black again and began creeping up his arm. Rei cried in pain as the burning sensation returned once again.

Smiling gently, Kai wrapped both his hands around Rei's and brought it up to his face. Rei watched Kai warily, Kai's eyes were glowing crimson once more but his wings were still black and there would be an occasional flicker of black amongst his eyes. Closing his eyes, Kai brought Rei's hand to his lips and blew gentle flames onto the mark. As Kai reopened his eyes, two crimson tears trickled down his cheeks, dripping onto the mark.

Rei squinted slightly at the tears. _'Is that… blood?!'_

Kai turned Rei's hand around so that the neko jin could see what Kai had done. The mark was gone. Instead there were strange symbols, written in the same slivery blue. Rei yelped as Kai suddenly tightened his grip.

"Kai, stop it! You're hurting me!" cried Rei as he tried to release his hand from Kai's grip, which only got stronger the more Rei struggled. Tyson tried to pull Kai away from Rei while Max tried to pry Kai's fingers off. However, as soon as they touched the two boys, there was a bright flash. The sky turned red and the sun disappeared, being replaced by a black moon. A harsh wind blew.

"What's going on?" Tyson shouted over the wind.

"I don't know but don't let go!" Rei ordered.

"Ok! Max is this like a premonition?"

"Yes it think so! But I'm not doing it!"

"Guys! I think Kai is!" shouted Rei as he stared at the mentioned teen.

Kai's upper lip was raised in a snarl and his eyes were flashing between crimson and black. His wings were stretched out, as if ready to take flight. A black mark similar to the one Rei had just had recently, curled up his arms, shortly followed by a crimson mark. They disappeared under his shirt and Rei saw them as they wrapped around the teen's throat. A black cross appeared on Kai's forehead, two red dashes, one on each side of the cross, also appeared. The marks began to glow brightly and it seemed as though the two colours were trying to over power each other.

Suddenly the wind died down and the sound of battle could be heard. The three alert teens looked around them and were shocked. They saw themselves, battling with an unknown enemy. The sky was dark and the smell of blood lingered. There were four others on their side. One with icy blue eyes, another with lilac eyes, and another two who were facing away from the group but one was short and the other was tall.

And there was Kai, except… he was fighting against them. He was the enemy, Kai was the enemy! And apparently the source of all this. He sent attack after attack and the figure with icy blue eyes was calling to Kai, shouting at him as the figure fought back.

The scene changed once more. This time Kai was on their side but the 4 mysterious figures from earlier were not.

"Hey look I really can fly!" shouted Tyson as he pointed to himself who was in the middle of a battle with another winged figure. The opposing side were fierce and strong. Their attacks were powerful, using the elements ice, water, air and earth.

Another flash occurred and when the group opened their eyes again, they were back at the training ground.

"Well… that was weird." Muttered Tyson.

"You think!" remarked Max staring at Tyson through semi closed eyes. The two pulled their hands away from Rei and Kai.

"Hello? Kai? You with us?" asked Rei as he waved his free hand in front of Kai's face. The marks that had wrapped themselves around Kai stopped glowing, now looking as if they had been painted on, and Kai's eyes returned to normal, though still glassy. Kai let Rei's hand drop from his grip, which the neko jin massaged gently. Suddenly Kai pitched forward.

"Whoa!" cried Rei as he caught Kai before he hit the ground. Kai's wings disappeared, leaving his shirt torn, dried blood on his shoulder blades.

_'That didn't happen the last time.'_ Rei thought as he gently used his thumb to rub away the dry blood on Kai's cheeks from where the tears fell.

"What is going on?" some one demanded. The group turned to find Master Dickinson and two others running towards them.

"Tyson? Max? Rei?"

"Hilary? Kenny?"

"What are you doing here?"

"That's what I was going to ask you!"

"Stop speaking the exact same time as me!"

"Whoa! Guys stop it! Calm down!" suggested Max, stepping in between Hilary and Tyson.

Kai groaned as he lifted his head slowly. He had a thumping headache and the uncontrolled emotions weren't making life any easier. Feeling someone supporting him, Kai turned his head to find Rei looking back, smiling widely.

"What?" Kai groaned as he pulled away from Rei and rubbed his temples.

"You have got a whole lot of explaining to do!"

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**well i hope you enjoyed it! i was a bit unsure bout this chappie so i wuld luv to know what u thought! thank u to my reviewers!**

**ttfn!**

**kavbj**


	6. Chapter 6 The Binding

**ok yes it has been a while... school has started again, suffered from writers bolck. yadie yadie yada. blah blah _blah!_ i think u get my point... anyway i hope you enjoy this!**

**k here is the disclaimer. usually i just have one for the whole story but i got a _whole lot of stuff_ that i gots to disclaim!:**

**dnt own Neji, Kaiten or Naruto. those belong to whoever owns Naruto. dnt own beyblade which i;m sure u realised already. and i dnt own the gods and goddesses. they are real gods and goddesses. as in... oh neva mind...**

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**Chapter 6 The Binding**

"How many times do you want me to tell you? I don't know!" Kai slid down to the ground from his position on the wall, sighing and placing his head in his hands.

Sensing the teens obvious discomfort at being asked so many questions, Master Dickinson quickly changed the subject, knowing well enough that not being able to answer their questions and not knowing what was going on with himself, would be seen as a sign of weakness to Kai, one that would soon lead to an uncontrollable rage. "How about we have lunch… Hilary didn't you say you had brought something…"

Hilary brightened up. "Oh yes! I did! I made it this morning so I hope you all enjoy it!" she exclaimed as she ran to the kitchen, quickly grabbing the food and bringing it out. Tyson straight away dived for the food, but his hand was slapped away by Hilary.

"What was that for?!" he demanded, only to receive a glare. Hilary then smiled again and walked around, offering the food to each person and making sure to offer it to Tyson **last**.

"Kai shouldn't you eat something? You haven't eaten for three days." Rei asked quietly, keeping his eyes on the others.

"Hn."

"By the way. We need to talk. I don't care when but unlike the others, I am not so easily fooled."

This caused Kai to lift his head from his hands and to look at Rei quizzically, before returning to his former position. "Hn."

'_Dranzer help. I don't know what's going on. And by the sound of what the group said, I am becoming a threat. We need to get the binding under way soon as well.'_

'_Your precious phoenix is… busy…'_

Rei looked down to Kai when a hiss came from the phoenix. _'You! This is all __**your**__ fault!'_

'_Why thank you.'_

'_Shut up! Where is Dranzer?'_

'_I have already told you… she is busy…'_

'_Right. Yep and Tyson doesn't have an appetite at all, Rei loves water and Max prefers fruit and vegetables to the usual sweets.'_

'_Is that true?'_

'_Don't play dumb with me!'_

'_Who said I was playing a game? But now that you mention it…'_

'_Oh just go away!'_ Kai hissed before blocking the voice, only to be bombarded with a mass of emotions.

_Annoyance, anger, restlessness, nervousness, amusement, interest, embarrassment, irritation, frustration, and strangely enough compassion…_

Kai soon felt his familiar flame flickering to life, filling his being until; "ENOUGH!!" he exploded. Rage flowed through him.

Hilary and Tyson stopped their constant bickering, Max finally stopped singing and sat still, Kenny stopped fidgeting nervously, Rei and Master Dickinson turned to face Kai, the others doing so also.

"Get a hold of your bloody emotions!" snapped Kai, glaring at each member.

"Kai… what **are** you talking about?" asked Tyson.

"What do you **mean** what am I talking about? You know very well what I mean! Everyone's emotions are going wild and I don't know about you but it's giving me a bloody headache!"

"How do you know what everyone is feeling? The only obvious ones are coming from Hilary and Tyson." Rei pointed to the mentioned pair. "Unless…"

"You're the empathetic!" exclaimed Master Dickinson.

Kai nodded wearily, closing his eyes and resting his head on the cool wall. _'Not a headache. No, a bloody migraine!'_ he thought angrily as he sighed.

"… I've known you for who knows how long, and I only find out your empathetic **now**…" Kai blocked out all the voices and let his thoughts wonder._ 'Well Max gets the premonitions, Rei has the high senses, I'm empathetic. That means Tyson is a dream seeker. Well that could come in handy. And each ability seems to match the person in control of it. Max is a water manipulator and so he is naturally pretty calm. He himself is also optimistic. Rei is part earth manipulator, and a neko jin. So he would already have heightened senses but this tops it off. Tyson is an air manipulator and it isn't rare for them to be dream seekers, and Tyson has an over active imagination so that suits also. I'm a fire manipulator, who are known to be quickly angered. Also known to be one of two extremes. Either fairly nasty or pretty much entirely hyper. Yet I'm cold and emotionless. That'd be right! I don't feel so I get the thrill of feeling the emotions of others. I might as well get his binding over and done with and then we can be off.' _Kai stood and glared at the group until they were quiet.

"I wish to leave soon and get things under way. That means we will need to do the binding now. Hilary, Kenny, I do not know of your skills, but if you see yourselves as some sort of use, then join us for all I care. But if you become a burden then I shall send you back. This will not be easy so it is your choice." Kai's voice was once again cold, face void of all emotion. Kai turned to Master Dickinson. "Master Dickinson, sir. Shall we begin?"

"Uh… yes. Yes we shall begin."

Kai nodded and turned to his fellow Guardians. "Now do everything that I say, exactly how I say it. Each opposite must stand across from each other, so Max you shall stand across from me, and Rei you shall be across from Tyson. But we have to stand in a cross formation." The group did as they were told and Kai continued with his instructions. "Now hold out your preferred hand and when I say to, you must summon your element to your hand. Rei seeing as you have more then one, you shall have to call all to your hand."

"But…"

"But what Max?"

"How do you call your element to your hand?"

Kai gave him a look as if to say 'you can't be serious right?' "Haven't you been taught?"

Max shook his head. Looking to Tyson and Rei, Kai asked them as well, only to receive the same answer. Kai sighed. "This is going to take longer then I thought. This should have been one of the first things you were taught! Ok, this is the way most people do it, clear your mind, then think of everything and anything that has to do with your element. It may help you to focus more if you close your eyes."

Tyson furrowed his brow in concentration, and surprisingly, was the first to get it.

"Hey, hey!" he cried. Kai turned to him and nodded. Max was next to get it. Kai turned to Rei to see how he was going, but found the tiger frowning at his hand.

"What's wrong Rei? Isn't it working?" asked Kai.

"No it is." Replied Rei. He did it with ease. First different sized rocks floated above his hand, and then that disappeared and was replaced with a ball of lightning. "But I can't get them to work at the same time."

"I thought this would happen. You'll have to think of the elements combined. Like if the lightning from a storm hits the ground, or even think of one of your attacks that use both elements." Rei nodded, before trying the suggestions given to him.

"It works!" he exclaimed as the two elements mixed together, floated above his hand.

"Good, now back into formation. Hold your hand out and summon your elements again."

While Kai had been teaching the others how to do just that, Hilary and Kenny had helped Master Dickinson set the room up. Using a white substance, they traced strange symbols along the ground, and then traced an outer circle around it all, including the four boys. Getting out black candles, they lit them before setting those out also.

"Master Dickinson, sir, we are ready to start." Stated Kai. Master Dickinson nodded and closed all curtains, getting rid of all source of light so that the candles were the only sources.

"Begin!" ordered Kai. The boys did as Kai had instructed. Summoning their elements to their hands, they concentrated hard. Tyson had a ball of air swirling above his hand, Max had water dancing around his, a mixture of earth and lightening floated above Rei's and Kai had a flame emitting from his palm.

"Now!" each element grew stronger, so much that it was covering it's owner's hand. The power became immense and a strong wind blew in a circle around the four teens. The white lines glowed brightly and strangely, the candles weren't blown out. Again the power of the elements was increased and the wind picked up.

Kai's eyes widened and he let out an inaudible gasp as a sharp pain swam through his body. Looking at the flames on his hand, he watched as they flickered slightly, tiny black flames starting at the bottom. The two marks that had wrapped around his body like vines, didn't begin glowing again, but felt as if they were trying to strangle him. Kai forced more energy into the flames, over powering the black ones.

Rei frowned slightly as he saw Kai's flames almost flicker out. Ignoring it though as they continued burning, just as strong as before.

On Kai's command, the teens sent their elements forward, where they met in the middle. As they clashed together, they created a bright light.

"Begin the incantation!"

"_**Aten,**__ Lord of All, _

_**Zeus,**__ Lord of the Gods, _

_**Neptune,**__ Ruler of the Sea, _

_**Vulcan,**__ God of Fire, _

_**Demeter,**__ God of Earth, _

_**Aeolus,**__ King of Winds, _

_**Aquilo,**__ North Wind, _

_**Zephyr,**__ West Wind, _

_**Notus,**__ South Wind, _

_**Eurus,**__ East Wind, _

_**Trivia,**__ Magic, _

_**Aether,**__ Light, _

_**Nut,**__ Sky, _

_**Sol,**__ Sun, _

_**Luna,**__ Moon,_

_**Hecate,**__ Dark Side of the Moon, _

_**Aesculapius, Hygea,**__ Health, _

_**Maat,**__ Truth, _

_**Venus,**__**Cupid,**__ Love, _

_**Mars,**__**Minerva,**__ War, _

_**Nike,**__ Victory, _

_**Poena,**__ Punishment, _

_**Nemesis,**__ Revenge, _

_**Osiris**__, King of the Dead, _

_**Hades, Libitina,**__ Rulers of the Underworld,_

_Gods, Goddesses, Lords._

_Spirits of Power._

_Bind again what was once one._

_Lend us your strength_"

They continued repeating the incantation, the bright light growing each time they finished it. The light was so bright, the wind so strong; Hilary, Kenny and Master Dickinson were forced to shield their eyes. Suddenly a different gust of wind blew through the hut, swinging the doors open. As the front door opened, Hilary tried to slam it shut, but was stopped by a hand. Hilary screamed and backed away. The hand was a feral purple greyish colour, with long grey claws. The hand disappeared and the door opened to reveal the hands owner. Two creatures stepped into the hut and slammed the door shut behind them. There were two… women… each with purple greyish skin, long grey claws and green hair. Their hair was like string, it looked absolutely disgusting, full of dirt and it stuck out in all different directions, yet seemed strangely tamed. Their dresses, though of the same design, were different colours, one being of a greyish blue the other black. The dresses were torn and ragged. The scariest part of the horrid pair, were their eyes. Though you couldn't really say that, as they had no eyes, eye sockets, but no eyes. The 'eyes' had an eerie, dull greenish glow to them. They opened their mouths and screamed. The screams were something horrible. Like something dieing almost.

"No! Keep going!" Kai shouted over the top of the wails when he saw Tyson about to cover his ears. "We can't stop now! We're almost done and at the most critical stage!" Kai joined back in on the chanting of the incantation while the two girl thingies continued wailing, Hilary, Kenny and Master Dickinson being lucky enough to be able to cover their ears. The reason for the wails was soon discovered as the hut began shaking dangerously, sending some of the candles toppling, some even catching alight on the wooden floor. While still concentrating on the incantation, Kai used his free hand to cease the spreading flames. The hut was steady once more, but when Hilary screamed again, Kai quickly glanced over in her direction to find an attack of ghostly spirits. Coming through the walls were inky black, ghost-like spirits. They too had the eyeless eyes and their mouths were filled with razor sharp pointed teeth.

'_So that's what those screams were. They were summoning these ghouls. Those two creatures must be gypsies.'_ Kai thought.

"They're gypsies!" exclaimed Kenny a second later.

"What? They are **not** gypsies!" disagreed Hilary.

"Look I don't have time to explain!" Kenny quickly dodged one of the spirits. "But they're the same things that Medusa is." **(Not true not true not true! i have no idea what Medusa is but for some strange reason i thought of her when thinking of my 'gypsies')**

"_Offa of lux lucis_!" **(Shot of light)** Hilary and Kenny quickly got out of the way as a white glowing orb zoomed pass them, destroying a few of the spirits. The gypsies had stopped screaming, but were now cackling. Rei couldn't decide if it hurt his ears more to listen to the screaming or the laughing.

Though Master Dickinson was sending attack after attack at the spirits, and even Hilary and Kenny sent a few of their own measly attacks, it was a losing battle. They were outnumbered severely and the Guardians weren't able to stop what they were doing.

Someone had clearly gone to a lot of work to try and stop the binding. Whoever it was, was clearly powerful. Or they had some sort of pact or leads connecting with the spirit world. Someone had to open the gate between the two worlds.

Kai threw his free hand behind him and shot random flames, hoping they hit **something**.

_'Come on come on!'_ Kai pleaded mentally, urging the ceremony to go faster, though he knew it wouldn't. _'There they are! They're_ _starting to form!'_ in the white glow that was coming from the centre of the formation, four crystals could be seen forming.

"Call out your spiritual beasts!"

'_Drigger! Come forth!'_

'_Draciel! Now!'_

'_Dragoon! Come on out!'_

'_Dranzer please be there!'_ Kai arched his back and breathed in sharply as a hot pain seared through his body once more. _'Dranzer!'_

_'Do not worry Master! I am here now!'_

The four beasts stood proudly next to their masters.

"Full moon's blessing! Moonlight Inferno!"

Kai closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He opened his eyes again slowly. Instead of the usual crimson, they were glowing a slivery white. The marks on his body glowed silver and white and the flames encircling his hand turned silver. Dranzer closed her eyes and bowed her head. When she opened them they were glowing the same colour as her masters and the golden marks on her back glowed silver.

Rei tried next. He too had silver eyes and the tips of his hair were silver. Drigger's eyes were silver and his green stripes too. The rocks in Rei's hand turned silver, the lightning white.

Tyson had white eyes, his nails and lips turning a white as well. Dragoon had the same white eyes as Tyson, his tail and different parts of his armour the same colour again. Silver and white wisps were visible in the orb of air above Tyson's hand.

Max's eyes were an icy silver, his hair the same colour. Draciel's eyes and the markings on her shell the also same colour. The water swirling around Max's hand was icy silver too.

The white glow that held the crystals grew in size and brightness, so much that it soon enveloped the room. When the light died down again, the four teens had returned back to normal and the four crystals hovered in the air, each one beautiful, and unlike the average crystal, they were beautifully coloured, not the usual transparent sort of colour, and were wonderfully shaped.

"Grab the crystals!"

Tyson grabbed the one in front of him, which was a pale blue, shaped as a strange sort of spiral, and curved spikes coming off the outer arms. Altogether the crystal was only half the size of his palm.

Max turned his over again. It was aqua with splashes of a darker blue every now and then. His was shaped as three water droplets joined together to make a pyramid shape. (Two on the bottom one on the top.) Dark blue bits connected the three, almost like a ribbon of water. Max's was about the same size as Tyson's.

Rei quite liked his. A golden lightning bolt was centred in an arch of different shades of green and brown, which represented earth. It fit snugly inside of his hand, the biggest part being the bolt of lightning, and that was about three quarters the size of his palm.

As soon as Kai had his in his hand, he chucked it to Rei. Though the light from earlier had gotten rid of many of the ghostly spirits, there were quite a few left, and more were coming. Why? Because those stupid gypsies had started wailing again.

"Max I need you to form some sort of barrier around you and the others." Kai said, not turning to look at the turtle.

"Wh… what?" asked a startled Max. "I can't create one that big, let alone one that is very strong!"

"Quick! Come over here then!" called Master Dickinson, waving the boys over to him. He then put up a shield around him and the teens. Kai stood in the middle of the room and got into position. **(If anyone watches Naruto, then imagine the position that Neji **drools** uses for the Kaiten. If ya dnt watch it then… imagine him standing slightly bent over and sideways. Knees bent. One arm straight out and low to the ground. The other arm straight out but up in the air behind him. That probably isn't a very good description but… you should be able to get it. Or at least something similar. Oh yes I got this idea from Neji's Kaiten so I dnt own it!)**

_'Usually this is used for defence… but if I can push it out, it should get rid of these annoying creatures.'_ Kai thought. Spinning on his heel, Kai whipped around, flames being released from his hands to create a dome of flames. **(In Neji's case, its chakra)** the flames spread out wider, pushing up against Master Dickinson's shield, licking at its edges. The flames crashed into the spirits, getting rid of them instantly. It soon hit the Gypsies and their cries of pain echoed through the hut, but they too were soon demolished, giving off a foul smell. Kai stopped rotating and stood straight, back to the group.

"The floor… my apologies Master Dickinson, sir." Looking at the ground, the group soon understood why Kai was apologising. The ground was charred, everywhere but where Master Dickinson's shield had been. Even some areas of the walls were black.

"No problem my boy! Just glad to have those horrible creatures out of the house!" Master Dickinson beamed.

Tyson flopped to the floor exhausted, Max and Rei doing so also, just in a slightly more graceful way.

"I am **pooped**!" groaned Tyson. "We don't have to do that any other time do we Kai? Especially not anytime soon."

"No we only do it once." Replied Kai, as he turned to face them. Hilary went round opening all the curtains saying, "aren't those crystals just so pretty?"

"I'm with you Hil." Agreed Max as he held his up to the light.

"Speaking of crystals, here's yours Kai." Said Rei as he threw the precious item to him, which Kai caught with ease.

"Put them somewhere safe. They are of great performance." Informed Kai as put his hand to his neck. _'That's why I felt that pain during the binding! My amulet is gone! And that's the reason why all those strange things have been happening! Damn it! I don't what the hell it's for but I need it.'_ Kai thought as his eyes widened in alarm.

"Rei! When I had a fever, did you see a chain around my neck?"

Rei thought for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yeah. I took it off. It's in the room you were in."

"Thanks!" called Kai as he ran to the room. Down the hall, to the left, second on the right. He flung the door open and there glinting in the sun was his amulet and necklace. The amulet was basic. It sat on a golden chain and had a red ruby centred on a golden circle. The necklace had a brown leather strap and on it sat probably two of the most important things to him. The charm from his parents, and the charm from his childhood. Kai had often wondered why the later was so important to him, but not being able to remember anything from his childhood, didn't have many advantages. Everytime he went to get rid of it though, thinking it was of no importance, something held him back. Kai quickly put the two pieces of jewellery on and headed back to the others.

He found them looking at the crystals, completely awed. Kai pulled his own out and studied it. It held a crimson red flame, gold kunai crossed over behind it and a small black flame in the middle of the first. _'All in all, it won't go on one of the necklaces and either way it's too heavy.' _Thought Kai. Spotting his precious sword sitting over near the couch, Kai made towards it. Pulling it from it's sheathe, Kai turned it over and inspected it. Then moving down to the hilt, he placed his fingers over the top ruby and twisted it until it popped out. Placing it carefully next to his sheathe, Kai took his crystal and pushed it in the space where the ruby had been. Holding the sword up to look at his handiwork, Kai smirked. The crystal fit snugly and there would be no problems with it suddenly falling out.

"Nice work. It looks good." Hilary complimented. Kai turned to the group behind him and smirked again. Finally they could get going.

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**well there you go! i'm looking forward to your reviews hint hint whether they are a flame or actually supportive. i'm hopig its the later but meh. peoples opinions are theirs and if they wish to express them then go for it. if ur opinion is good well... hehe i think u get my point.**

**the gods and goddesses were mostly Greek and Roman ones, a few being Egyptian. i myself am Catholic so i dnt know too much about some of them... the language that dickinson used for his attack was latin. it might not be translated properly though... it is really annoying writing master dickinson over and over. u get really tired of it by the end of the chapter!**

**in the nxt chappie, the group head out, going to their home realms and we should hopefully see the rest of our favourite russians!**

**bye!**

**kavbj**

**p.s. thanks to those who reviewed! they mean a lot and they keep me going!**

**look out for fics by DancerInTheDark101 by the way. she is excellent at what she does! i am happy to make any recomendations so jsut let me know if ya have anyone in mind! and more shall be on their way anyway.**


	7. Chapter 7 Playful Enemies

**hehe... hi... yes yes its been a while and for that i'm sorry but i have been soooooooooooo busy and have had one of the worst cases of writers block! anyways i hope u enjoy this chappie!**

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**Chapter 7 - Playful Enemies**

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As each teen walked outside, they bowed and thanked Master Dickinson for allowing them to stay. As Kai was about to walk out, he turned to the Elder and told him seriously, "As you know I have completed a few of the tests but… the last one… with the other Shadows wasn't part of my test. It was set up. Someone wishes to know about us."

Master Dickinson thought for a second, his face set in a grim expression. Pursing his lips he asked, "Do you know who it could've been?"

Kai shook his head, deciding it best to not tell Master Dickinson how he actually knew one of the Shadows. "No. But I am guessing it is the same group who set this attack up."

"Group? I knew we were set up but why do you suppose it was a group?"

"I have my reasons." Then bowing, Kai thanked Master Dickinson for his hospitality, and walked outside where the other were waiting and escaping any further questions from Master Dickinson.

"Ok," Kai began, "we shall head to the nearest realm to here, which is yours Tyson, the Air Realm. There are a few people there we need to see. We do not have much time to reach them so we must hurry." Looking at each member of the group, Kai studied them. They all stood with packs on their backs and were listening carefully to each word. "Let's go."

* * *

The group had been walking for some time now, the scenery still being the same. Trees, trees and oh look, more trees. 

"This is boring! And my legs are killing me! Can we **please** stop for a while?" Tyson's lists of complaints just went on and on, and had been for a while, so by now everyone knew to just ignore him.

"Oh Tyson stop complaining and keep moving you lazy old pig!" almost everyone.

"Who are you calling a pig Hilary?! At least I eat and don't try to eat less so that I'm skinny!"

"I do not do that! Get your facts right! Oh wait, how can you when you've got a brain smaller then a speck of dust!"

"Well at least I've got a brain!"

"Shut up!" shouted Kai, his crimson eyes staring coldly at the pair.

"Sorry." The two mumbled while looking away from each other. Rei, Kenny and Max grinned at each other. No one had been able to get those two under control that fast, until now.

Kai let his eyes change from their usual crimson to brown, and let his hair change to black. He pulled his hood up over his head and ordered a quick, "Someone's up ahead. Just act normal." Before jumping up and into one of the nearby trees.

"Ok then… guess we keep walking." Following his own advice, Rei kept going forward. Seeing Max looking at Kai and following his every move, Rei explained to the golden haired teen, "Max it's probably best to just ignore Kai, otherwise we'll end up giving away his position."

Max turned his head to look at the neko jin and nodded slowly.

* * *

**Kai!**

As the group walked, Kai followed them, jumping from branch to branch. Summoning his red plain mask, Kai closed his eyes before opening them again slowly. He blinked before looking in each direction.

_'Perfect, the heat sensors are working.'_

_'Heat sensors? Oh yes **wonderful** name for them.'_

Kai rolled his eyes at his spirits sarcastic comment. Getting back to task, Kai looked down at the group below him, following their heat signal with his eyes. He looked ahead, searching for more heat signals. There were four; belonging to Manipulators judging from the two different heat signals they gave off. They weren't too far away but they appeared to be waiting for something. _'Or someone'_ Kai thought as he sped up, going a few metres in front of those below him. Searching for any traps that might be ahead, Kai detected a very small heat source. Studying the object, Kai narrowed his eyes. Explosives. Most likely explosive tags. Though by the looks of things, they would reach the group up ahead before they reached the traps. Kai smirked. Looks like they were going to meet the enemy already.

* * *

**others!**

Rei took a quick glimpse of Kai, who was still hopping form tree to tree. Sensing another precense coming up, Rei placed his hand on his waist, where on it sat a pouch filled with kunai and shuriken.

Seeing Rei place his hand in his pouch Max asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Be prepared. And go faster."

Max picked up the pace, just as he had been told to. They had started running when they saw Kai pick up speed and now they were practically sprinting. Skidding to a halt behind the others, Tyson looked around the clearing they had come to. One lone figure stood before them, and it wasn't Kai.

"Ah I see you've finally arrived." The figure uncrossed his arms and took a few steps towards the group. Each of them automatically went for their weapons. As Rei pulled out his weapons, he quickly looked to Kai, who was perched in a tree, looking down on what was going on.

The figure chuckled. "Oh no reason for those." His voice was slightly muffled and as Rei took in his appearance, he soon understood why. The figure was clad in black boots, but you only got a glimpse of those as a long black cloak covered the rest. The cloak covered all but had no sleeves, showing slightly tanned, strong arms. The collar of the cloak came up and covered the figures mouth and nose, only allowing his icy blue eyes and fiery red hair to be shown. **(I guess it is pretty mush a black poncho that comes up with a high collar and covers what was explained.)**

_'His heat level just dropped.'_

_'He's hiding his magical energy.'_

"So you are the Guardians 'ey?" said the figure as he walked around them slowly. "Shouldn't there be more of you? Those two," he pointed to Hilary and Kenny. "Are definitely not Guardians. I don't even think they are Manipulators!" the figure stopped and stood before them once again. "My team will be here soon. Don't worry."

The figure narrowed his eyes and smirked, glancing in the direction of Kai. _'Ha! This will be fun.'_ The figure raised his head slightly as he heard a bird call. _'Good. Their coming.'_

"Guys…"

"What Kenny?"

"Something isn't right. That birdcall… I don't think it belongs to this realm."

"It could've switched realms, you know, used a portal of some sort."

"I doubt it Tyson."

The group froze as each of them felt a blade to their throat.

"Oh look," the figure stated dryly. "Their here."

* * *

**Kai!**

Kai stood and placed a hand on the trunk of the tree, his other hand going for one of his daggers. He had watched as three figures had jumped from the trees behind the others and had quickly held them captive. Waiting for the perfect time, Kai continued watching the scene unfold.

* * *

**others!**

One was on Kenny, another on both Hilary and Max and another on Tyson and Rei. The one on Tyson and Rei looked at the two before glancing back at the rest of the group held captive. He wore similar attire to the first figure, except he also had a hood pulled over his head; the first figure had his hanging down his back. After looking at the group, the one in between Rei and Tyson looked to the first figure. Only his sharp lavender eyes could be seen as he said, "he's missing."

The one with the hood down nodded before glancing up at the trees. The lavender eyed one got the message. With out anyone seeing it happening, the two figures switched places. The one with the hood down now held the knives to Tyson and Rei's necks while the one with lavender eyes was now in front of the group. Summoning his wings quickly, the lavender-eyed figure flapped them once before jumping up in the air, flying up above the trees. Letting his eyes change to those of a falcon, the figure kept his wings spread out, his wings being brown with white speckles, they too being quite flacon like. Using his now even sharper eyes, the figure searched for his target. He narrowed his eyes when he caught sight of his prey. Tucking his wings in, the figure dived down into the trees at a great speed.

* * *

**Kai!**

Kai looked up, his eyes catching the heat of a person who was heading towards him at an extremely fast speed. Jumping off of the branch he resided on, Kai leapt down to the ground, narrowly missing the strike of the winged figure. As his feet touched the ground, Kai quickly leapt to the right, once again just missing the strike of the winged figure. As the winged figure was about to crash into the ground, he pulled up, flying low to the ground, the figure once again headed for Kai, rearing up so that he hovered just above him. Kai tilted his head up to look at the figure. As he did, his hood fell back, revealing his black hair, which whipped across his face gently as a soft breeze blew through the clearing.

"So nice to see you again Kav." The first figure greeted sarcastically, the one with the wings smirking.

"Hm… I wish I could say the same about you…" this time it was Kai's turn to smirk, while the smirk fell from the winged figure's face, replaced with a glare.

"Remember whose lives are at stake here!" the redhead growled, and as if to prove his point, he pushed the dagger against Rei's throat slightly, drawing a thin line of blood. "So hand them over!"

"Exactly! Hand them over!"

"Look I have what you… want… and you have what I want, so how about we just… swap?"

"Cunning as a fox. Or should I say a wolf?" the figure stiffened and Kai continued. "But… where is the fun in that little deal. You ruin the motive if you do it that way." Kai began to step closer to the redhead. "Think about it. You could just, force me to give them to you. Why go to that trouble only for us to swap so simply. I say we fight or something! There's no fun!"

"Stop playing games!"

"Aw… poor little naïve child. He thinks this is a game!" Kai mocked, pouting slightly. Narrowing his eyes he added, "but who said I was playing?"

The two were now face to face and in the midst of a stare off.

Managing to lean over slightly so that he could whisper to Rei, Max asked, "What is he doing? And who is Kav? And why does he want a fight? Can't he just give them what they want? Or hasn't he noticed that our lives are sort of… how to put this lightly… well… if he continues we wont have lives!"

Turning his head ever so slightly so that he could look into Max's baby blue eyes, Rei just shrugged. Max bit the inside of his mouth before straightening and looking back to Kai.

"Falborg!" the winged figure now stood behind Kai, and at his leaders call, lunged towards the black haired teen. Kai spun and grabbed the fist that clutched the dagger that was coming towards him. The two pushed away from each other and glared.

"But seeing as you wish to play so much… how about you and your 'buddies' join the fight. But then it would be unfair. So you also release the others. Hilary and Kenny sit out and then it will be four on four."

The redhead thought for a second before grinning like a wolf. "Ok but one condition, we play my way." Signalling for his team to follow, he drew the knives away from Tyson and Rei, he pushed the two of them forward, sending them stumbling over to Kai, who quickly pushed them behind him. The same was done to Max but Hilary and Kenny were pushed **away** from the group and to the edge of the forest.

The winged figure lifted his hands and spun once. When nothing happened, Rei, Max and Tyson exchanged glances. Kai narrowed his eyes. "Step closer to me." He ordered softly. Doing as they were told, the three boys exchanged glances again. Suddenly, huge, gale force winds started blowing along the ground in a large circle around the group. The wind rose in a wall and it soon met at the top, placing everyone, save Hilary and Kenny, inside a dome of wind. As fast as it had happened, the wind quickly died down.

"And the point of that was…?" Tyson asked while waving his hand in circle, looking to the enemy expectantly. No answer.

Kenny and Hilary stepped forward to reach the others but were harshly pushed back, each of them slamming into a near by tree trunk.

"I thought we would make it even more fun by adding a barrier. The attacks will bounce off of the barrier, keeping the battle interesting… and inside…" explained the redhead as he smirked maliciously at Kai, who, much to the annoyance of the enemy and his own team, smiled back. "Joy!" he exclaimed.

"Another condition; we play on my playing field." The shortest member of the enemy's team clawed his hands in a similar way to Rei and began raising the earth. When he had finished, the 'playing field' was no longer flat. Huge bits of earth had been raised, almost like pillars.

"Now for the final touch." The leader pricked his finger with a dagger and held it above his head. As one drop of blood fell to the ground, the earth around it rippled as if it were water being hit by a drop of rain, and the blood seeped into the ground. The leader held his hand out in front of him. Hand open and palm facing downwards, he whispered one word, "ice…"

* * *

**well there u hav it! i'm guessing by now u've realised who's who... if not u shall see in the next chappie!**

**bye!  
kavbj**


	8. Chapter 8 Ice, Ice, Ice!

**Chapter 8 -** **Ice, Ice, Ice!**

Rei, Tyson and Max shivered as a cold harsh wind blew around them.

"When I give the signal, jump." Muttered Kai as he crouched slightly.

"U…uh ok…" stuttered Rei as he rubbed his arms furiously, trying to warm up. The wind got harsher and steadily dropped in temperature. The ground where the drop of blood had fallen rippled once more before a crackling sort of sound bounced off of the walls of the barrier as ice began to spread out from the same area.

The redhead clutched his wrist with his free hand as the muscles in his arm tensed and he narrowed his eyes in concentration. He glanced up at Kai and smirked. "Still want to play Kav?"

Kai glared back. "Of course."

The ice crept closer and closer to the group, covering everything in sight. As it got closer to the Guardians, it also got closer to the opposing group.

_'3, 2,1…'_ "Now!" cried Kai as he jumped up into the air, the others following suit. As they jumped, icy tendrils tried to grab at them. Kai launched himself higher than the others and as Rei came down he looked up to see what Kai was doing only to find him making the same hand signs that he had used when he had fought the monster the other day. The ice had now fully covered the clearing and as the flames hit the ice, it emitted a hissing sound. The flames continued until Kai ran out of breath and he dropped back to the ground. As the flames cleared, a hole could be clearly seen from where the fire had melted the ice and as Rei, Max and Tyson peered over the edge, they gasped. Underneath the ice, water rushed, strong currents pulling it along fiercely. A few chunks of ice raced pass every now and then.

"You fall in that you either drown or freeze to death!" exclaimed Tyson as he turned to Kai who just nodded.

"But that doesn't make any sense. That just gives me an advantage." Max pointed out.

"Yes but it leaves the rest of us at a disadvantage." Explained Rei, looking to their opponents he added, "really, its extremely clever." He shivered as the temperature dropped once more. "Kai how can you stand this?"

Kai shrugged. Again the temperature dropped.

"This is getting ridiculous!" cried Tyson. Kai hissed and rubbed his eyes.

"Using heat sensors or whatever you call them are we Kav?"

_'Heat sensors?'_ "What heat sensors?" asked Rei. Kai pulled his hands away from his eyes slightly and looked at Rei.

Rei raised both eyebrows as he looked at Kai's chocolate orbs. Anyone would've thought he was blind. His brown eyes held no pupils. _'How could we not have noticed?'_ Rei thought as Kai turned away again.

_'The temperatures dropping quicker. Gosh this is annoying. It's almost as if its skipping every five degrees or something and the change is too quick for my eyes to adjust.'_ Kai thought as he rubbed his eyes with loose fists. Pulling his left hand away, Kai looked at the group opposite him. The low temperatures affected none of them.

Max blinked and shook his head. _'Wait… weren't there… four of them…'_ he thought. The winged figure had just disappeared leaving the other three in front of them.

"Max get down!" Kai grabbed the younger teen and pushed him to the ground. As Max lay on the ground and came out of his short daze, he turned his head to look at Kai.

"K… Kai!"

Kai stood panting slightly. He raised his hand and gingerly touched his shoulder. Pulling his hand back, Kai glared at the crimson liquid coated on his fingers. Wrapping his fist around the hilt of dagger that he had protected Max from, Kai pulled it out from where it was lodged. More of the crimson liquid poured out as Kai dropped the dagger to the ground before applying pressure to the wound with the opposite hand. Kai raised his eyes to meet with those of the winged figures, whose own eyes were widened ever so slightly. Snapping out of his shock, the figure tackled Kai to the ground. Kai kicked him off before stumbling to his feet. The figure stood also, lightly touching the area where Kai had kicked him. The figure rose in the air and challenged Kai to do so also.

"Well go on Kai! We'll take the others!" exclaimed Tyson as he drew his sword. Kai bit his bottom lip before his eyes lit up as he thought of something.

Kai's eyes glowed a fiery red and he jumped up into the air. As he did so, flames covered his lower half, from his hips down. His legs were hidden from view and his fiery tail replaced his legs.

The winged figure raised an eyebrow. Kai flew at him, raising his hand and shooting fireballs at his opponent. The winged figure flew higher, dodging the oncoming attack before launching his own. Kai stopped flying and braced himself as gale force winds came at him, the wind acting like a whip or dagger, cutting his skin as it blew around him. Gathering his strength, Kai managed to fly through the winds and towards the figure. As he launched another set of fireballs, the enemy deflected them with a wave of his hand, sending air currents to blow the flames away. Too busy watching the flames disperse, the winged figure missed the punch coming towards him.

Kai smirked as he made contact with the opponent's stomach, sending him flying backwards. The figure licked the blood on his lip from where he had bit it when he was flung back. He narrowed his eyes at Kai as he drew six daggers, holding them between his fingers. He threw the daggers at Kai, using the wind to give them extra speed and accuracy. Pulling out his own dagger, Kai managed to knock away the others.

Kai felt himself drop slightly and his strength waver. Looking up, Kai noticed that the sky had clouded over, blocking the sun. Forcing more magical energy into his veins, Kai cried, "flame on!" and suddenly his whole body was submerged in flames. **(Yer yer I think I've been watching just a _bit_ too much fantastic four… go Johnny! Whoo!)** Kai's outline was just visible and he charged at his opponent once more. Kai began flying around the winged figure, slowly speeding up until the figure was stuck inside the flaming tornado.

Down below, the redhead had been busy fighting off Rei. It was clear who was the stronger and better of the two. The redhead pushed Rei away again and looked up at where his teammate was. Eyes following Kai's movements, the redhead called to the tallest of his companions, who nodded in response. Raising some of the water from the hole Kai had made, the tall figure sent the water hurtling towards the unaware Kai. The water hit Kai dull blast, putting out the flames with a sizzling crackle and sending Kai plummeting towards the ground. The winged figure was flapping his wings weakly, struggling to stay in the air as he drew in precious oxygen, which the flames had begun using up.

Seeing his friend plummeting towards the ice covered ground, Rei moved quickly and caught Kai. Kai was soaked to the bone and as Rei placed him on his own to feet, he tried to get a spark. Nothing. _'Damn!'_ releasing heat out through his pores, the water slowly evaporated off of Kai's skin, enough for him to get a flame going.

Nodding his thanks to Rei, Kai got ready to fight again. Knowing he wouldn't be able to fly again for a while, he tried to think of a way to get his opponent to come down to him.

"Kai!" snapping out of his thoughts when he heard his name called, Kai focused back on the battle, only to have to quickly flip backwards and out of the way of the ice shards coming towards him. Kai looked to the source of the attack and was met with two icy blue eyes. Red vs. blue. Fire vs. ice. Kai smirked as he let the flames in his hands encase his arms, while the blue-eyed teen raised two ice shards from the ground with a sharp flick of his wrists. Kai watched as they flew to his opponents open hands. Now in their owners clenched fist, the ice shards morphed into two swords made of ice.

Copying his opponent, Kai morphed the flames into a spear. The spear was black with red spiralling up around it and the head was red also. Twirling it in his hands, Kai got ready to fight.

The redhead came towards Kai with his swords out to the side. Raising the two swords above his head, the redhead brought them down towards Kai, who blocked the attack with his spear. Twisting to the right of his opponent and pulling the spear away, Kai let the redhead stumble forward, going to butt him in the ribs with the bottom of the spear, but the redhead quickly twisted and blocked the attack.

Bringing one of the swords away from where he had blocked the spear, the redhead went to strike. Kai acted quickly. Twisting the spear roughly to the right, he flung the word keeping his spear still out of its owner's hand, and brought his leg up to his chest, so that the word pierced that instead of a spot that would most likely have been fatal.

Hissing at the pain, Kai thrust his spear forward, piercing through the redheads shoulder. The two pulled away from each other.

Suddenly Kai was sent tumbling to the ground as Tyson cashed into him. Helping the phoenix, Tyson apologised. "Hey sorry about that! I keep slipping on the ice."

It was then that it dawned on the phoenix. The ice was a huge disadvantage, and as Kai looked around, he confirmed his own thoughts. None of the teens fighting with him could keep their balance on the ice, instead they constantly slipping and falling. While they would get back up, their opponent would attack, causing them to have to dodge and fall back down again and the process was just repeated.

Looking around Kai found himself near the hole he had made earlier, about a metre away from the edge. Reverting his attention to the redhead, Kai narrowed his eyes challengingly. "This ends now." He hissed.

The redhead glared in return and dropped his remaining sword to the ground, where it melted into the ice. Holding his hands by his sides, the redhead's eyes began to glow brightly and a harsh wind whipped around him. The winds picked up and soon became a roaring blizzard, which was strangely under control.

Mimicking his opponent's movements, Kai dropped his spear. His eyes glowed brightly and a fierce fire began to encircle him. The flames rose higher, acting as a shield almost and son a raging fire surrounded Kai.

The two attacks flew forward –fire heading towards ice shards, - and clashed in the middle, emitting a bright light.

As Kai opened his eyes again, he found himself in some sort of alter-universe. The sky was a fiery red while the ground was encased in ice. It stretched for a few kilometres before fading off into nothing but darkness. Standing opposite him was the redhead, his eyes as cold as ever. They seemed so familiar to Kai yet, he couldn't think of why. Everything about the redhead was cold. _'Just like me'_ the redhead appeared to be muttering something to himself and Kai struggled to pick out what he was saying but managed to get something along the lines of, "flames… dust… lovers… friends… why do… good…come to… end…"

Raising a delicate eyebrow, Kai tried to make sense of what the other teen was saying. Next thing he knew, he found his eyes captivated by icy blue orbs.

"Crimson… I always have been able to see right through you, Kai. It was always written in your eyes, the key to your soul, your emotions, and your heart. Always. Please return to us. Please. Let me know that this pain I feel isn't real. Show me that you're the Kai we all know and love. Please." The last word was nothing more than a whisper and the redhead turned to look out over the horizon. A gentle breeze blew, and the redhead turned back to look at Kai with pained eyes.

"Please. Remember. Please…" the words faded off as the figure disintegrated, turning into tiny bits of snow that were whisked away in the wind. Blocking his eyes against the sudden white light, Kai reopened them to find himself looking into a pair of stormy blue irises.

Pulling away, Tyson let Kai sit up. "Hey guys! He's awake!"

The rest of the gang walked over. "Hey how you feeling?" Rei asked softly.

"Fine… what happened? Where are the others?"

"Dude! It was amazing! Wait! Hold up! I did not just say dude! Grandpa!!!!" Tyson wailed.

"Anyway continuing onwards, when your attack clashed with the redhead's, there was this bright light! And when we looked again, we found you lying on the ground out cold." Explained Max

"And the others?"

"They were just gone. Poof! Vanished. We searched a bit but we couldn't find them anywhere and all the ice had disappeared, everything was back to the way it was before the fight. Except for the fact that the clearing wasn't a clearing at all."

Kenny stepped in. "it was merely an illusion. It turned out to be just another part of the forest. Which we're in now."

"Hn." Kai tilted his head back and looked at the clear sky above him. _'It couldn't be… could it...? What is this feeling I'm getting? And why do I feel as though I've forgotten something important?'_ closing his eyes, Kai let the sun warm his face. Hopefully the answers he seeked would be somewhere along this journey.

* * *

**well i hope u enjoyed this chappie. it wasnt till i had read it over that i noticed how short it was. sorry!**

**thanks to those who reviewed the previous chappie! i got 4 so i was very happy!**

**bye!**

**kavbj**


	9. Chapter 9 Broken Wings

**Chapter 9** **broken wings**

The wind blew his red bangs around as he opened his eyes slowly. Observing his surroundings from the position he was in, he found himself surrounded by nothing but blue sky. He propped himself up slightly but as he did he hit the wing of the person carrying him. He quickly lay back down with a mumbled "sorry Bryan." And waited for Bryan to land.

At the short pain he received when Tala hit his wing none too softly, he drew the wing in and tilted to the left, using his right wing and the wind to stay up in the air. He began flying down towards their makeshift camp.

Tala tightened his grip when Bryan began tilting. He looked around him as they made a steady descent. He could feel that Bryan was annoyed and most likely angry.

"I remember when you learnt to do that." He muttered.

**_Flashback_**

_Bryan staggered into the room, tear marks leaving clean streaks on his dirty face. He fell to his knees and cried silently._

_Tala, Ian, Spencer and Kai stood._

"_Bryan what's wrong?" asked Tala as he stepped towards the falcon. He bit his lip at the sight of one of the speckled wings. It was held out but towards the end, it stuck out at an odd angle. "Your wing!"_

_Ian cringed, Spencer's eyes widened and Kai, who had been cleaning his own wings, brought them around and wrapped them around his body, as though he could understand the pain the older boy was in. And he could, it had happened to him many times before and it hurt!_

_Tala knelt down beside the fallen child and ran his fingers along the wings edge._

"_Spencer can you heal it?"_

_Spencer shook his head. "I know nothing about wings! Sorry."_

_Ian nodded and looked to Kai._

_Kai unfurled his wings and sighed. "I'll give it a try…"_

_Ian's face brightened immediately and he went and sat down next to Bryan. Spencer sat down next to him as well and Kai knelt down in front of him._

_Concentrating hard, he closed his eyes and made a set of hand signs. Holding the last hand sign, Kai sat Indian style and breathed deeply._

_"Kai you're healing Bry', not yourself." Stated Ian. Spencer quickly shushed him, although Kai hadn't heard a word._

_Breathing in, Kai brought his arms up and around before resuming the same position. A reddish amber aura surrounded Kai and when he was ready he held out his hand._

_This was normal process for whenever he wanted to heal another person. He was still unable to hold the power when he opened his eyes and moved so someone often had to guide his hand and place it where it needed to be._

_This time it was Tala. He took Kai's hand gently, his cuts and bruises, fractured bones and torn muscles instantly being healed as power was released form Kai's hand. Tala gently placed Kai's hand on Bryan's wing and the power flowed out, the aura wrapping itself around the wing._

_The aura soon faded away and Kai let his hands drop. As he opened his eyes, he fell back, exhausted. Bryan reached out and quickly grabbed him, drawing the 7 yr old in._

"_Thank you." He whispered. "It feels much better."_

_Kai smiled, eyes closed. "No problem. But you wont be able to fly for a while but I'll teach you some of… my tricks…" his voice died down and his breathing evened out. He had exhausted himself more than he had known. _

_

* * *

They stood in a line, staring straight ahead as their three instructors walked over. Kai and Bryan were at flying lessons. Most of the other students there with them were Air Manipulators, there were a few Fire Birds but Kai was the only Fire Phoenix._

_The three instructors stopped in front of the class and each boy there bowed their head respectfully._

"_Good morning boys…" the lead instructor drawled as he looked at each of them, a cocky expression on his face. The two companions with him smiled nastily._

"_Good morning Sir!" the boys cried together._

"_Today Master Boris and Lord Voltaire will be joining us. So you had better make a good impression. We will be doing aerial manoeuvres today." He sent a glance towards Bryan, who wanted to flinch away and press himself closer to Kai. Where the 7 yr old got all his courage from no one knew but it was contagious, and suddenly Bryan stood tall, flaring out his wings, the injured one hanging slightly limp._

_Seeing the once broken wing alright, their instructor glared before switching his look to Kai, who stared back with as much force._

"_Let's begin…"_

* * *

"_Bryan! Go!" barked their instructor as Kai came sailing back in. he landed silently and made his way back to the others. He squeezed Bryan's hand as he walked past._

_Bryan stood next to his instructor, waiting for permission to take flight. After getting a nod, Bryan set off, opening his wings to catch himself. But he didn't. Instead one wing, his good one, caught him while his injured wing hung there useless._

'_Oh shit.' Was the only thing he thought. He tried to complete the course, going through it rather roughly but the last obstacle caught him. They were to pull their wings in tightly and fly through a set of three rings. The edges of the rings were sharp and quite a few boys had been unable to pull their wings in tight enough and they now had torn and bleeding wings._

_Bryan managed to get his wings in tight enough but as he came through the last ring, he couldn't open his injured wing and so he fell the total of 15 metres, crashing to the ground._

_Not caring for what his grandfather, Boris or the instructors thought, Kai stepped out of line and made his way quickly to Bryan who was rubbing his wing, trying hard not to cry. Boris and Voltaire made their way over to the 2 boys._

"_Well that was absolutely pathetic!" snapped Boris. Bryan flinched away and Kai moved himself in front of the 8 yr old protectively. Voltaire flung Kai out of the way, literally, and bent over so that his eyes were level with Bryan's._

"_That was a failure, **you **are a failure. And do you know what we do with failures?"_

_Bryan gulped, fear engraving itself into his features. And Boris didn't like that._

_He seized the boy by his broken wing and Bryan cried out. He then dropped Bryan to the ground and yelled "emotions are not permitted here! For that you shall be punished!" Boris brought his steel-toed boot around and Bryan closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the pain, but it didn't come. He opened his eyes hesitantly and looked up. Kai's crimson eyes looked back and he smiled softly at Bryan._

_Kai had dived in front of Bryan at the last minute and had crouched over him protectively, wings spread out, and he had taken the kick._

"_Kai get out of the way now!" Boris went to yank the boy back but Voltaire stopped him._

"_No. Lets just see how great the little runt truly thinks he is."_

_Boris smirked in reply and he kicked again and again and again. He used his knife, he punched, he whipped but still Kai did not move and still Kai did not cry out. Instead he stared into Bryans lilac eyes, focusing on them to keep his mind off of the pain._

"_Kai stop it please." Bryan begged in a whisper. "Let me take the hits, I can take them, I'm not totally weak. And you just had a punishment two days ago."_

_But Kai smiled and shook his head, staying in his position and protecting Bryan._

_

* * *

Bryan stood by the tree that Kai had told him to meet the phoenix at. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the floor. Bryan whipped his head up as a shadow appeared on the ground but relaxed when he saw that it was Kai. Bryan gave a nod and Kai returned it._

_Cuts and bruises decorated his body. Eyes flickering down, Bryan stared at Kai's torn wings. They were bloody and the feathers were ruffled. Obviously Kai had just got back from where ever he had been dragged off to. Kai took too much pride in his wings for him to just leave them like that._

"_We don't have to this. I'll be fine. I can just wait until my wing is fully better you know." Bryan whispered as he looked out at the sun. "And anyway, it's going to be dark soon. You wont have as much strength and you will be tired from this morning."_

_Bryan looked at Kai as the younger boy gave a small chuckle._

"_What?" Bryan asked._

_Kai shook his head. "You worry to much."_

_Bryan scowled and crossed his arms._

"_Come on. Let's get started." Said Kai as he walked away from Bryan, the eight yr old following._

* * *

"_And… now!"_

_Bryan tucked his injured wing in, just like Kai had shown him so many times, and he tilted to the side and used the wind currents, just like Kai had showed him, and he created his own wind currents when he began to fall, just as Kai had suggested to him._

_He came to the ground fast and as he landed on his feet he rolled forward. He sighed irritably and stood up angrily._

"_Relax." Kai walked over to him. "It took me forever to get this and you've almost got it in the space of a few hours."_

"_Yeah but you didn't have someone teaching you, and you wouldn't have been able to manipulate the wind to your advantage."_

_Kai smiled and looked up at the moon. "A good warrior, uses his advantages to protect those he loves but he keeps the game fair."_

"_Kai you're talking in riddles again."_

_Kai turned his head slightly and looked at Bryan. "You'd be an idiot if you didn't use those few things to your advantage."_

"_Oh."_

"_Don't worry Bry'. You'll get it." Supported Ian, from where he, Spencer and Tala were watching._

"_He's right. So will we try again?"_

_Bryan looked to his teacher and nodded. "Lets do this."_

_

* * *

Bryan landed, a broad smile on his features. He had got it! He could fly with one wing! Wait until Boris and Voltaire saw him tomorrow!  
Spencer smiled at him with tired eyes. "We told you. Nice one Bry', nice one. But lets get inside now and get some sleep. We're all going to be dead on our feet tomorrow." He was right of course. The first few rays of light would be piercing through the night sky soon_

_Ian and Tala had curled up like puppies next to the older boy and were sleeping soundly. Spencer himself looked as if he might fall asleep any moment and Kai… Bryan walked over to Kai, who was sitting and leaning against a tree. His face was pale and drawn in, grey shadows dancing under his fiery eyes. He smiled wanly at Bryan._

"_Excellent. You got it." His voice was hoarse with exhaustion. "Knew you could. We all did. All you needed was a little support and belief." He coughed, his breathing ragged afterwards. Bryan frowned and he helped the younger boy stand._

_Letting Kai use him as a human crutch, Bryan walked over to Spencer who had woken the other boys._

"_Kai? Are you ok?" Ian asked quietly, staring up at the taller boy with worried eyes._

"_I'm going to be fine." Kai smiled reassuringly at the boy before coughing into his hand. Stealing a glance at his hand as he brought it back down by his side, he saw the blood that was on it._

_Bryan looked to Spencer and Tala, exchanging glances with them. Kai didn't know he had seen the blood. And he hadn't answered Ian's actual question._

"_Come on." He muttered. "Let's go."_

_

* * *

The next day, the boys stood together at combat lessons. Kai was nowhere to be seen and apparently no one had seen him since last night. As their instructor called the roll, he stopped at Kai's name and said "Kai Hiwatari will not be joining us today. Master Boris and Lord Voltaire have held him back for health reasons."_

_The four boys exchanged glances. What was wrong with Kai?_

**_End Flashback_**

Bryan landed and Tala slid off his back. They stood there in silence until Spencer and Ian returned also.

Bryan walked over to Spencer, sat down in front of him and took off his shirt. There near his shoulder and above his right breast was a savage and deep cut, the blood glistening in the light.

Tala stared at the cut, and then he looked at the tear in Bryan's pants, right where his knee was and blood could be seen.

_'Wait!'_ Tala placed his hand on where 'Kav' had stabbed him and found the wound in the exact same place as Bryans, which Spencer was now bandaging. the cut on Bryan's knee, Tala was sure there had been a similar one on 'Kav's' knee.

"Bryan… did you…"

"Yes. And I saw it all and it was pathetic!" he spat. "For you to show such emotion. And… argh!" he gave a frustrated cry and clenched his fists. Spencer finished bandaging the wound and stepped back. Bryan stood and walked over to his make shift bed. He lay down on his stomach, still bare-chested, and closed his eyes, spreading his wings out.

Bryan had changed so much from the little eight yr old he once was. He was now one of the coldest boys in their classes, in their academy. He was cruel and showed little mercy to opponents but he was loyal and protective of his team. He grew colder by each day and he had lost all hope, the little bit he had left being terribly close to being smashed.

"Bryan I'm – "

"Shut up Tala." He growled.

Tala looked at his friend sadly, receiving sympathetic looks from both Spencer and Ian.

_'Don't give in to it Bry'. Don't give in to the darkness. Don't give in to the other side. Not just yet.'_

* * *

**aah my dear dear readers... i am terribly sorry for such a late update! my compter has been so out of whack (refrainin from using more pleasin words) that its beyond a joke! summer storms have started full force in Australia and they havent helped much either! thanks to those who reviewed the last chappie! it really means a lot!**

**bye!  
kavbj**


	10. Chapter 10 Weapons and Flying Lessons

**ok hey! i understand it has been a veeeeeeeeeeery long time since i updated this but writers block came bak with a vengeance, hence thois chappie is kinda short and probably really crap!**

**_

* * *

Chapter 10 Weapons and Flying Lessons_**

**(This is happening at the same time as what happened in the previous chapter)**

"Ok then all done!" proclaimed Rei as he stepped back to look at his work.

White bandages were wrapped around Kai's shoulder and knee and Rei had spread some herbal ointment on other cuts.

"Uh… thanks…" Kai muttered, still peeved that Rei had managed to overpower him and win the 'battle' and now he was wrapped up in a bunch of bandages. Oh joy.

"Now to do it my way." He said, and he pulled off the bandages, ignoring Rei's annoyed protests. Making a set of hand signs and holding the last one, he closed his eyes. Raising his hands, he brought them around and breathed deeply. A reddish amber aura wrapped itself around Kai. The Guardians watched in surprise as Kai's cuts began closing themselves.

When every wound was healed, the aura faded away and Kai opened his eyes. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it on then grabbed his pack. Taking a quick glance at the darkening sky he said, "we'll keep walking tonight until you decide its time to stop."

Watching Kai's receding figure, the group sighed and grabbed their own belongings and followed the phoenix.

* * *

They had stopped when they grew weary and the sky was pitch black, no moon lighting the way. 

Kai's energy had begun draining away when he had no energy source, not even then moon. So when Hilary had suggested that they stop and rest, no one had protested and Kai had simply 'hn'ed.

Now they were currently trying to wake Tyson.

"Tyson get your lazy arse up riiiight now!" shouted Hilary.

"Yes I'll have extra meat with that." Murmured Tyson as he rolled onto his side.

"Tyson! Tys-"

"Uh Hilary? Yeah, it's not really working." Stated Max as he rubbed his neck.

"Uh sorry about this Kai. We should have him up soon." Said Rei as he sent an apologetic smile to the phoenix.

"Is this how he always is?"

"Pretty much…" replied Rei as he looked at Tyson, turning back to Kai when he heard him snort in disgust.

"Pathetic." Kai then walked over and loomed over the sleeping Tyson, eyes narrowed and arms crossed.

Holding his arms out in front of him in an 'x' formation, Kai brought them down swiftly, flames flaring out. The flames hit the ground on either side of Tyson's face, the heat radiating against Tyson's cheeks. And that was enough to wake the dragon up.

Tyson shot up rubbing his cheeks. "What the?!" he exclaimed as he stared in shock at the singed ground. Tyson glared at Kai. "You are so lucky that didn't hit me."

"but it worked didn't it, fatso?"

"Fatso?! Watch it dude!" yelled Tyson as he shook his fist in Kai's face.

Kai calmly grabbed Tyson's fist and forced it back down. "Please. What can you do to me? Create a little tornado and send it after me. You can't even fly. Pathetic."

Kai then walked off.

"Grr… the nerve!" Tyson began rolling up his sleeping back furiously, muttering curses.

"Well he's right, it did get you up." Hilary said offhandedly as she began packing her own belongings.

"Still! There are easier ways of getting someone up! Like calling them,"

"Tried that."

"Or shaking them,"

"Tried that too.

"Or making a loud noise."

"Yeah that didn't work either."

Tyson glared at Max who smiled childishly. "Well it didn't!" he protested.

Tyson grabbed his pack, still grumbling.

"Lets just find Kai." Sighed Kenny.

* * *

They found the phoenix spinning a weapon in the air. Holding on to a chain, Kai spun it so that the little spikes at the top were whipping through the air. Lashing out, Kai aimed the spikes at a nearby tree, and the spikes lodged into it. Yanking on the chain, Kai spun the chain again, and the spikes moved so fast that they were just a blur. He spun them above him, to the right, behind him. He switched hands and weaved the chain in between his hands. Kai stopped the weapon and looked at the group. 

"Training."

* * *

Kai lay down all the weapons he had with him in front of them. And he had heaps. 

Standing, Kai said, "these are the only ones I've got with me at the moment, there's a village up ahead and a guy who lives there looks after some of my other ones."

Kenny picked up a nearby weapon and inspected it.

"Well chief?" asked Tyson.

"Its perfect. Perfect condition, nice weight making it easy to wield and the blade is sharp. The length is good and it's comfortable to hold." Kenny looked up to Kai. "Where did you get all these?"

"I bet you he stole them." Scoffed Tyson as he looked at some of the other weapons lying on the grass.

Kai was on him in a flash. He held Tyson by his collar, holding him so close their noses were almost touching. "Think what you like about me, but never ever call me a thief. I would never sink that low."

Releasing Tyson, Kai stepped away and picked up a pair of twin Sai. **(there is a huge description for sai and it goes on and on really. if you want to read it, it is quite interesting follow this link: (remove the spaces) _www. reference. com/ browse/ wiki/ Sai _underscorepercent symbol_28weapon _percent symbol_ 29 _)**

"Max you prefer using pairs correct?"

"Uh yeah." Replied the blonde. Kai thrust the blades into Max's hands.

"Use them until I can get you your own pair made." Kai instructed as he walked along the line of weapons once again. Picking up a pair of Numchucks, **(aside being easy to carry, numchucks were used to defend against almost any weapon, being it a bo or a sword. by trapping the blade of a sword with the chain between the two sticks, a ninja could entangle and disarm a sword-wielding attacker. the numchucks were also used for offense. th ninja could strangle or execute joint locks using the chain between the two sticks.)** he tested them before handing them to Rei.

"I trust you know how to use them?"

Rei nodded, as he looked the Numchucks over before he too gave them a try.

Picking up a Bo, Kai handed the weapon to Tyson. **(A Bo is a staff. It's generally around 6 feet in length, made of hard wood or bamboo and is hollow. The reason for the hollow part is a trick of the ninja trade. By flicking the Bo with great speed, the ninja could launch a poison tipped dart or small knife out of the open end of the staff, often catching the opponent off guard.)**

Tyson looked at it before blurting out, "That's it! They all get fancy weapons but I get a staff."

"You are supposed to be the Air Guardian. Figure it out." Growled Kai.

Tyson looked blankly from the Bo to Kai and back to the Bo. "Nuh, I got nothing."

Sighing irritably, Kai snatched the Bo from Tyson and held it tight. "Just watch." He growled.

Kai banged the end on the grass twice before twirling it and throwing it up in the air like a baton. Flames trailed from the end like they were emerging from the Bo itself. Kai caught it in his other hand and twirled it once more; the flames flaring out like a windmill.

"Wow, so you can fire dance. Big deal." Tyson looked expectantly at Kai. "Come on Mr almighty. Show us something impressive."

Kai bowed mockingly. "As you wish _sire_." He stood up straight and gripped the Bo with two hands. Holding it out in front of him he began twirling it faster and faster until it was nothing but a blur. What happened next made Tyson stare in awe.

As the Bo picked up speed, both ends began leaving flames trailing behind. Soon, fireballs began shooting out from the centre and each end. Kai quickly stopped the spinning and the fireballs stopped. Grabbing near each end, Kai twisted the Bo once one way, and then once the other way. As he did, swirls of flames shot out from each end, following the motion of Kai's arms.

Grabbing the staff in the middle once more, Kai began to twirl the Bo even faster than he had been the first time. This time instead of fireballs, thick lines of flames shot out and the more Kai twirled the Bo, the more flames were released. Quickly, the flames joined one another and became bigger and soon there was a tornado of flames coming from the Bo.

Kai threw the still twirling Bo into the air and the fire spread, throwing flames in all different directions and when Kai caught it again, everything stopped.

Kai threw the Bo back to Tyson.

"Awesome…" breathed the younger teen and Kai smirked.

"Kenny, seeing as you were so impressed" Kai said in an almost mocking voice. "You can use that weapon there."

Kenny looked at the Naginata **(a long staff with a blade attached to one end.)** and then smiled at Kai.

"And for Hilary I have two things."

Hilary looked up from Rei's Numchucks. "Me?" she walked shyly over to Kai, who held a fan out to her. Hilary looked confused.

"It's a Tessen." Explained Kai.

"Oh!" Hilary nodded excitedly and took the Tessen. She fanned it out and inspected it before folding it closed again. **(A Tessen is a folding fan with an iron frame and, when folded, can be used to club an enemy. A few different variations were invented, including one with a sharp edge on the outside of the framework so that, instead of only being able to club a person, the ninja could cut as well.)** "It's got a blade along the framework." She commented.

"Clubbing doesn't always work." Muttered Kai as he looked over the weapons once more. "I actually have three for you. Here's the second." He held out some Neko-te. **(The Neko-te is usually used by the kunoichi (female ninja). The weapon is strong iron fingernails that are fastened into leather bands fitted on the fingers, and resemble claws and are also dipped in poisons. The eyes are a favourite spot for slashing.)**

Hilary grinned and strapped the Neko-te on and slashed at one of the trees around them. She laughed in delight when she saw the marks left behind. "I can club you and scratch you now Tyson. That should make waking you up a bit easier."

"Now for the final weapon." Kai picked up his bow and grabbed an arrow. Taking aim, he fired the arrow at the same tree that Hilary had slashed and as it whizzed through the air, the arrow caught alight.

Bringing Hilary over to the collection of arrows he had Kai pointed out which were which. Fire, poison, normal, double or triple headed and then there were the ones that could be used for storing things in them, the items being released when the arrow was fired, etc.

"How come she gets three?" Tyson asked grumpily.

Rei was the one to answer. "It takes a whole lot of practice to become really good at using a bow and arrow. I'm sure Kai gave her the other two so that she could use those while she learnt how to use the bow and arrow. Right Kai?"

"Hn."

Rei sighed. "I'll take that as a yes."

Kai smirked in a way that the group definitely did not like. "Now that you have your weapons… training begins."

* * *

Walking through the village's main street, Tala kept his eyes looking straight ahead as he concentrated on the conversation going on inside his, Bryan's and his mentor's heads. Spencer and Ian walked on either side of the redhead, glancing at the two boys every now and then to make sure that both of them were still ok. 

Bryan was currently being held bridal style by Tala, eyes closed and body limp. His mind was somewhere else completely.

_Boris, their mentor, sat in a room, holding a glass of alcohol, eyes focused on something else in the room that Tala was unable to see._

'_Sir.' _

'_Ah Tala. What is your report?'_

'_The targets are together, with the two extras with them. We have met them once and engaged in battle. They are weak and do not oppose a threat. The two extras are not Manipulators. The traitor is, naturally, the strongest of them all and the only one that can be seen as a threat so far. He seems to have no recollection of any of his memories. The Phoenix Goddess, Dranzer, is still with him.'_

'_Hm… just as I thought, everything is just as I thought. And your team?'_

'_We are all fine. Bryan is currently holding the connection.'_

'_Can you not do it through some other way?' Boris swirled the alcohol around the glass._

'_No sir. We are currently in the village that the targets are heading for. What are yours and Lord Voltaire's orders?'_

"Tala!" hissed Ian.

Tala turned his head to the younger boy, still listening to his mentor. Ian motioned towards Bryan and Tala looked at the falcon.

Sweat was gathering on the pale forehead, breathing picking up pace, but only slightly.

"The Switch must be starting." Murmured Spencer, not looking at the lilac haired teen.

Bryan groaned, his head lolling to one side like a rag dolls.

'Boris must be drunk or close to it. Bryan must be getting his alcohol in-take.' Tala thought.

Bryan groaned again and arched up slightly.

'Hang on Bry'. Almost done…'

'_Tala!'_

'_Sorry sir.'_

_Boris frowned but carried on. 'You are to follow the targets. Attack them again soon.'_

'_Yes sir. The village they are heading for, it is near the Portals of Worlds End.' Tala felt Bryan reaching for the doorway into his dreams but pushed him away. Bryan was getting deeper in not only Tala's mind but in Boris's mind also._

'_Let them pass through, but follow. I shall need a regular report on their's and your status, understood?'_

'_Yes sir.'_

_Voltaire walked into the room, his eyes travelling to the opposite side of the room. He smirked and poured himself a glass of alcohol before seating himself next to Boris._

_Neither of the two knew that the connection was still up._

'_The experiments have been going well I hear.' Stated Voltaire as he took a sip from his glass._

'_Yes my lord. Quite well. The spirit has bee…'_

_The image slowly faded away, as well as the voices and Tala came back to the real world._

"The connection broke. Bryan's out of it. The Switch gave him Boris's alcohol intake so Boris will be happy when he discovers he isn't going to get drunk too quickly." He said to the two walking next to him.

"The report?"

"It went fine Ian, and the orders are the same, and we are to follow them through the Portals of Worlds End, whichever one they choose to go through."

* * *

Rei lay there staring up at the sky. He ached in every place; even where he didn't think it was possible to ache. 

Training had been hell. Kai had made them work on everything. Weapons were at the beginning, then there was combat, then basic Manipulator exercises, then they had been sent off to train alone for a while. Tyson had eaten and fell asleep, and Kai was not happy about that. He worked the poor boy until he couldn't stand anymore and Kai had left him with a simple "pathetic."

* * *

Tyson rolled over, hissing in pain as he hit one of his many bruises. He looked over at his Bo and growled. He never wanted to have to use that again. He still hadn't been able to… to… do whatever it was that Kai had done with it. Kai had said it would be easy, that you could do it with any weapon. Yeah it may have been easy for him! He could use any weapon you gave to him. Tyson groaned as he sat up. 

'We need to get horses,' he thought. 'Or I'll die from all this walking.'

"We're getting horses at the village up ahead." Kai walked over to the tired group, pack on his shoulders and already ready to get going.

Max stood up and stumbled over to his pack. He rolled up his sleeping bag and stuffed it in then tiredly walked to Kai.

Hilary almost crashed into a tree, still tired from the day before. Rei had to grab Kenny and Tyson as they walked the wrong way.

"You obviously can't go without sleep for too long." Sighed Kai as he ran a hand through his hair. "We'll start training at night. See if that helps."

"Tyson can't go like two hours without sleep and food." Hilary said grouchily.

"Can too!" Tyson protested weakly.

"Tyson I'm over here. That's a tree."

* * *

They walked along the path that they had found, Kai flying swiftly above them as a look out. 

Tyson sighed and stopped. "Kai I'm going to go nuts if I have to carry a 6 foot long staff everywhere."

Kai flew in low next to him and grabbed the staff. Halting in the air, he banged one end against the ground twice and then twirled it and threw it in the air like a baton. Catching it again, Kai banged one end against the ground once and then the other end, and swiftly, the Bo folded in on itself until is was a round tube the size of Kai's palm.

Kai handed it back to Tyson who stuffed it in his pack.

Kai smirked as he got and idea. "Actually hold onto that Bo for a second Tyson. And take your pack off."

Although confused, Tyson did as he was told, crying out when Kai suddenly grabbed him under his arms and lifted him into the air.

"K-Kai! Put me down!" yelled Tyson as he stared at the ground which was getting further and further away.

Kai ignored him and soared higher. When he thought they were high enough, he stopped.

"Ready for your flying lessons?"

"Flying lessons? Kai what fl-aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Kai released Tyson. Tyson fell through the air towards the ground, which was now getting closer and closer. His friends called out in alarm.

"Kai! Help!" screamed Tyson.

Kai was flying just behind Tyson. 'Obviously he wont use his wings by instinct.'

"Use your Bo Tyson!" Kai yelled to the younger teen.

Tyson fumbled with it, trying to get it to extend again. It did and Tyson gave a short sigh of relief.

"Now what?"

"Think!"

Tyson bit his lip. Luckily Kai had taken them above the forest, higher still, so Tyson had a bit of time to figure things out.

Grabbing the Bo in the centre, Tyson began twirling it, praying to every god he knew for a bit of luck.

Slowly but surely, wisps of air began coming from the Bo, and soon Tyson had a tornado much similar to the one Kai had shown them yesterday, except that it wasn't made of flames.

Tyson kept spinning the Bo and when he got closer to the ground, he aimed it down, hoping against hope that it would slow him down. And it did, sort of. The winds weren't strong enough so they didn't have enough force to slow Tyson down to a safer speed.

Seeing that Tyson was dangerously close to smashing into the ground, Kai sped up and caught the blunette.

When Kai had sped up, Rei had dropped his own pack and acting on pure instinct, had thrust his arms up and to the left. A heap of earth grew from the ground and followed Rei's commands. It arched up and wrapped itself around Tyson at that same time as Kai caught him.

Kai released Tyson and nodded in approval at Rei. Perching on the earth arm, Kai smiled as he switched personalities. His hair and eyes changed colour and Kai pulled out his plain red mask, putting it on.

"Well you learnt how to use the Bo without having to call your Element. Now we just need to get your wings working. But right now," he turned serious. "All of you get up into the trees. We've got company."

* * *

**there you go... i know not much happened but i think i've finally gotten over my damn bloody writers block so the next chapter should (hopefully) be much better!**

**bye!**

**kavbj**


	11. Chapter 11 Bandits for Company

**_Chapter 11 Bandits for Company_**

"That was too easy."

"Yeah but the load was good."

"True."

A gang of five walked through the forest, just below where the Guardians were hiding.

"Who are they?" whispered Max.

"Bandits." Replied Kai, his eyes following the group. "They must have a hang out or something near by." And Kai knew very well that they did, because he knew who the five were. Merlow, Renaldo, Westcot, Atol and Marilda. Each of them powerful members from the Flaming Sharks.

Signalling for Rei and Tyson to get ready, Kai pulled out one of his swords, the blade glinting.

And that was enough to catch Marilda's attention. She halted, catching the attention of her team.

"There's someone watching us, or we're being followed." She hissed as she scanned each tree. Marilda was a feisty blonde and a powerful Glass Manipulator, a cross between Earth/Sand and Fire.

"The trees give nothing away. They will not say anything. They have great faith and belief in whoever these people are. There are six of them, that is all the trees will tell." Forest green eyes peered out from between bluey green hair as Merlow looked to the rest of his team. He was a gentle but strong fighter, using an Element that branched from the Earth Element, Nature.

"Well then, this will be fun." The Sand Manipulator twins, Renaldo and Westcot spoke together. They were completely identical, no difference having been discovered yet. Dark skin, brown hair and yellow eyes, the traits of many Sand Manipulators, another Element that branched from the Earth Element.

Atol was just an Earth Manipulator, but a powerful one at that. His fierce cobalt blue eyes flittered around the forest. He was quick to raise a wave of earth and move it over his team to protect them from the onslaught of kunai.

* * *

'So they're still in the one team. Well, time to have some fun with my old group.' Thought Kai as he pulled a scroll out of his pack. Pulling the tie with his teeth, he unrolled it into the air. Instantly, an onslaught of kunai rained down of the group below.

Rei seemed to get the idea as he pulled out one of his own scrolls. Doing the same as what Kai had, Rei watched for a second as a range of different weapons rained down. Clawing his hand, he took control of the earth that Atol had raised and managed to pull it back. The weapons hit the group but when the Guardians could see properly, they saw that not a single member had been hit; they had dodged every single weapon.

* * *

The kunai lodged into the earth with little thuds.

"There's more coming," murmured Merlow. And sure enough, it was raining weapons.

Feeling someone trying to take control over the earth he was holding up, Atol released his hold and followed the earth as it went back into the ground. Now they were easy targets.

Without having to be told, the team began dodging.

Merlin made her way in between dodging weapons, to Merlow who gave her a lift and flipped her into the air, before flipping back and dodging a set of weapons.

For a short few seconds, Merlin was above the weapons and then she was back on the ground and next to Atol.

"Well?" he demanded as he dodged a few weapons.

"There are six like the trees said –"

Atol snorted. He was close friends with Merlow but no matter what, he still found it weird that the boy communicated with plants.

"And" stressed Merlin as she glared at Atol. "Only one has definite features that show what Element they control."

"And?"

"It's a boy. Looks about 14 or 15. Amber eyes, long black hair, ears with a slight point and fangs. Also a very feminine look to him. Slender and lithe but fit. Very fit. The way he's perched on the branch, very feline like."

"A neko jin."

"Precisely. Meaning he will use the Element Earth in some sort of form."

Atol nodded. The weapons were coming to a stop and eventually they did. The five of them stood there, the twins side by side, Merlow nibbling a strand of his hair, hand against a tree trunk, and Merlin and Atol next to each other.

* * *

"Hilary?" whispered Kai as he felt behind him.

"I'm here." She grabbed his hand.

"Place your hand against mine."

Hilary did as she was told. She gasped when she felt Kai transfer some of his power into her. There was a shimmer of red as it went from his hand to hers. Hilary relished the experience as she felt the power travel up her arm and through her body.

Hearing Max and Kenny gasp next to her, she looked at them questionly.

"Look." Murmured Max as he cupped his hands. Water shimmered in his hands and as Hilary looked, she smiled and touched her face.

A gorgeous jewel incrusted hairpiece held up her brown hair, her face covered in the finest make up. Her eyes were a dark blue and her skin paler. Looking down, her smile grew as she saw the gorgeous pink kimono she was now wearing.

Kai pulled his hand away. "Get your Tessen and Neko-te." He turned away from the group below and summoned a flame to his hand. Letting the fire grow, the flames formed into a parasol. The fire disappeared ad Kai gripped the handle tightly. The black handle was engraved and the top of it was pink. He handed the parasol to Hilary then lifted her bridal style.

"Wait here." Kai ordered quietly. Holding Hilary tightly, he jumped to the next tree, and the next, and soon Max and Kenny couldn't see the pair any more.

"Kai where are we going?"

"I'm taking you up ahead. I want you to follow the path and when you come to the bandits, just play innocent. If they ask you where you're going, tell them you are going to visit a relative in the village named after the Great Protector." Kai jumped down from the branch he was on and landed quietly on the path.

Putting Hilary down he told her one more thing before leaving. "Remember your weapons, don't let them know that you have weapons, use them like everyday objects, fan yourself, whatever. We will be up in the trees so don't worry. If they start giving you trouble then use your weapons. The Neko-te have been dipped in poison. Also, hold the parasol above your head and spin it. There are poison darts hidden underneath."

Hilary watched Kai go off and when she was sure that he was far enough away from her, she began walking down the path.

"Ok just act natural. They wont suspect you. They wont suspect you. They wont- oh god." She could see them and they were just around the corner. Taking a deep breath, she kept going, stopping when she stood in front of them.

The bandits turned and stared at Hilary.

She blushed. "Oh u-um hi. Sorry to interrupt your training…"

"We were just finishing up Ma'am." Stated Merlow, his eyes flickering up into the trees.

"That's a beautiful hairpiece." Complimented Merlin as she sent a friendly smile in Hilary's direction.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing around here?" asked the twins.

'Crap! What am I doing here? Oh right.' "I'm visiting a Great Protector in the village named after the Relative. I-I mean –"

"Its ok, we understand." The twins smiled and Hilary smiled back.

* * *

"Is that Hilary?! No way!" hissed Tyson as he rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Rei hushed him.

* * *

"They're toying with her." Murmured Kai. His grip tightened on the branch he was holding onto.

* * *

"Oh you don't want to go there though!" exclaimed Atol. "Apparently they've been having problems with bandits and thieves and all."

"That's horrible!" Hilary put her hand to her mouth. 'Gosh I'm good at this.' "I should probably turn back." She turned around. "Oh but… my cousin… he's expecting me." She turned around again. "Oh…"

"We would be happy to escort you." Said Merlow as he came over and bowed.

"Why thank you kind sir, but I wouldn't want to be any trouble."

"No, not at all!" Merlin smiled to assure her as the rest of the bandits made their way over to Hilary.

Merlow straightened up and stalked over to his team. "What are you doing?" he hissed. "You know Kav doesn't like us attacking those who do not deserve it."

Atol just brushed him away. "Here I'll carry your bag." He offered to Hilary as he took it from her hand.  
"O-oh thank you." She pulled out her fan and began fanning herself.

* * *

"They wouldn't dare. I have made it very clear to everyone that I do not like anyone attacking just anybody they meet on the road. And they had no orders to attack the village. The village has helped the Sharks. What is going on?"

"Kai?"

"Never mind what I say. Grab your weapons, Hilary is going to need our help."

* * *

They began walking, Atol in front, Merlin and Merlow next to Hilary and then the twins coming up behind.

Suddenly the twins grabbed Hilary. She screamed and clutched onto the parasol and fan. Kicking backwards, she smirked when she felt one of the twins release their hold. Using her Neko-te, she slashed at the other twin and he too let go.

Merlin, Merlow and Atol got their weapons out and got ready to attack.

Sticking her fan back in her belt/sash, Hilary held the parasol above her head and did as Kai had directed.

Poison darts rained down on the bandits and with a cry, the Guardians, save Kai, jumped down from their hiding places, charging at the bandits.

"Oh this is just great!" growled Merlin. The skin on her palm began to ripple and from the centre, a long, clear, glass sword emerged. Grabbing the handle, Merlin swung her sword and ran to meet the Guardians.

Bringing her sword down, it met with Max's Sai with a clang.

"It didn't shatter!" Max exclaimed incredulously.

Merlin smirked and pulled her sword away, then struck again.

* * *

The twins grabbed each other by the wrist. Sand swirled around their feet ad climbed up their legs. It lifted them off their feet and into the sky. Both of them raising their outer arms, the twins sent two blasts of sand in Tyson's direction.

"Uh crud." Muttered Tyson. Extending his Bo, he grabbed the middle and twirled it, the tornado forming. As the sand got nearer, Tyson held the Bo in the direction of the sand, using the tornado like a barrier. The sand was blown away and in the other direction. The twins dived down from where they were, unlinking hands and hurtling towards Tyson. Tyson stopped the tornado and grabbed one end of the Bo. Swinging it like a baseball bat, he hit one twin full force, sending him flying into the other.

Just as they were about to hit the ground, two thick green vines wrapped around their waists and drew them in towards Merlow. The vines themselves were coming from under Merlow's sleeves.

When the twins were safely on the ground, they muttered their thanks and ran off to fight Tyson again.

Merlow let the vines wrap around his arms and around his hands, fulling covering all of his skin. Where Merlow's knuckles should have been, thick, brown thorns stuck out like claws.

Merlow turned on Hilary, advancing slowly. Picking up speed, his slashed at her, just getting a few loose hairs as Hilary quickly dodged.

More vines emerged from under Merlow's sleeves and they moved towards Hilary. They grabbed each arm and pulled at her, not letting her get away.

Hilary screamed as she struggled against his grip and tried to get free.

Merlow raised an eyebrow when Kenny brought his Naginata down and cut the vines. The vines around Hilary fell off loosely and withered on the ground.

"That wasn't very nice." Whispered Merlow. "That hurt."

"They're just vines!" exclaimed Hilary.

"Yes but they're a part of me. And now you've made me mad!"

* * *

Atol looked at his team before his eyes flickered to Rei who was fighting next to Tyson.

"Ah so there's our little Earth Manipulator." Atol bent down and dug his fingers into the ground. Making sure he had a good grip, he then pulled up, ripping the ground from where it was. The ground pulled up in a path towards Rei. The ground flipped up and sent Rei into the air.

Rei looked down in surprise. His eyes trailed to Atol, who was releasing the earth. Rei narrowed his eyes and landed smoothly. Making his way to Atol, he ducked as a jet stream of water came past and hit Merlins glass shield.

"Sorry!" cried Max.

Rei kept moving to Atol. When they were a few metres apart, Atol made a set of hand and arm movements and then dug his heel into the ground. Large boulders rose from the ground in front of him and when he pushed one arm forward, the boulders flew to Rei.

Rei stamped one foot and then the other. With a simple, brisk, bend of his arms, two large slabs of earth raised right in front of him and acted as a shield as the boulders smashed into them.

With a flick of Rei's wrist, one of the slabs skidded forward and Atol narrowly dodged it. As he dodged, he had risen a ball of earth and sent it towards Rei, half of the neko jin showing and making an easy target.

Rei quickly turned and the rock skimmed past him.

* * *

Max sent another jet stream of water at Merlin, who had abandoned her sword and shield. Holding out her hand, Merlin stared at the water. Glass encased the water, stopping it seconds before it made contact.

Max looked on with wide eyes as the attack he had sent, now trapped inside glass, fell to the ground. The glass smashed and the water was quickly soaked up.

* * *

Tyson looked from one twin to the other, left to right. In perfect sync, the twins made a set of hand signs. Their images shimmered and the next thing Tyson knew, twins surrounded him.

Holding the Bo above his head, he brought it down swiftly. A gush of air was pushed forward and it sliced through one of the twins. As the twin was hit, he vanished and grains of sand fell to the ground in a heap.

"They're clones!" exclaimed Tyson. One by one the twins came at him and one by one, Tyson got rid of them, and one by one, they turned into sand.

Soon, there were no more clones. Tyson looked left and right but not up or down, and that was his mistake. Emerging from the ground, Renaldo came up and punched Tyson in the jaw, sending him flying backwards.

Tyson lay there looking up at the sky. A shadow blocked out the light and Tyson swore as he saw Westcot falling towards him, arm outstretched and fist ready.

Taking a deep breath, Tyson blew. Westcot was blown away, literally, by Tyson's breath. **(Due to the force or the stench, we'll never know. lol.)**

* * *

Kenny stood back, watching Hilary and Merlow.

Merlow had been taunting Hilary, and she had gotten mad, and now she was on a rampage.

Hilary swung again, and again Merlow dodged.

Growling in frustration, Hilary fanned out the Tessen and swung again. This time when Merlow jumped back, the Tessen's sharp frame cut his shirt.

Hilary's hands flew to her mouth and Kenny stared in fascination.

"That's… amazing," breathed Kenny.

"Amazing? That's _disgusting!!_" shrieked Hilary.

Merlow stood there with his shirt hanging open and chest, if that's what you could call it, in full view.

Where his heart was sat a purple bellflower from the plant known as deadly nightshade. The thick veins leading to it pulsed. Thick lumps under the skin led from the flower to each shoulder. The lumps squirmed and at the shoulders, thick green vines broke through the skin. Merlow hadn't been kidding when he had said that the vines were a part of him.

The flower's petals darkened, as did Merlow's eyes. The vines receded back into his skin and the lumps disappeared. Raising one hand, he threw it down. Hilary and Kenny listened intently as they heard a tree trunk crack. They both cried out when one of the trees to their left came crashing down.

Another tree fell, and another. Everyone stopped.

* * *

Kai looked on as a fourth tree came crashing down. Then a fifth and a sixth.

'He keeps going like this, there'll be no trees left.' Thought Kai. He gripped the branch next to him tightly as he heard another tree fall, this time closer. 'Crap, he's going around.'

* * *

And sure enough, Merlow was. Another tree fell, narrowly missing Tyson and the twins.

"Merlow! Stop!" Atol shouted over all the noise. He protected his eyes from all the dust that was raised when another tree fell.

Hearing a crack that sounded too close to be good, Kai sighed, irritated when he felt the tree he was on begin to fall. "Here we go then."

* * *

Max froze when he saw another tree start falling. 'Wasn't that the one Kai was in?'

And sure enough, as the tree fell, a figure jumped out of it and into the air.

Kai faced the sky and waited until he heard the sound of the tree hitting the ground before he turned over. He landed quietly.

Max let out the breath he had been holding and smiled.

Holding onto his sword, Kai walked forward, eyes scanning the area. No one seemed to have really noticed that he had shown up. They were too busy trying to calm Merlow down, and dodge falling trees at the same time. Good.

Creeping up behind the twins, Kai was quick to knock one of them out. Seeing his brother fall, the other twin turned only to be knocked out as well.

'Three to go. Oh, no, two. Atol just knocked Merlow out.' Kai advanced on Atol and delivered a sharp jolt to a pressure point on the back of his neck. Atol crumpled.

Kai walked over to Merlin but she saw him before he could make a move.

"Hey! Your one of u-" Kai knocked her out before she could say anymore.

He smiled, his brown eyes dancing. Pulling off his mask he exclaimed, "well! That was fun!"

* * *

They walked through the damaged gates and stopped. They stood in silence as they took in the scene.

"Well looks like they had some fun too." Commented Kai as he stretched and flicked a strand of black hair off his face.

"Fun? They destroyed the place." Rei said quietly.

Houses and building were in pieces, had collapsed, or were scorched. The scent of smoke lingered in the air and left the sky a musky colour.

"Mm… no, no not really." Kai walked ahead, the Guardians following.

"I wonder how many people were killed." Whispered Hilary.

"None." The group looked up when Kai stopped. "This is just a cover. The real village is underneath." He walked over to a fountain and stepped into it. The water was dark and dirty due to all the ashes.

"What? Want a bath Kai?" Tyson asked sarcastically.

"No… but you sure need one Fatso." Was the reply. Kai walked to the centrepiece of the fountain. Wiping away some ashes, he smirked. "Found it." He proclaimed.

"Found what?" asked Rei as he too stepped in and stood next to Kai.

"The key." Kai pulled out a dagger and started dislodging one of the stone tiles. It fell into his hand and Kai put it, and the dagger, down. Reaching into the gap that was left behind, Kai pulled out a small disc that had the symbols of the four Elements engraved into it. Kai replaced the tile. He then hopped back out the fountain and Rei followed.

Around the rim of the fountain, were women. Dancing women that had been engraved into the stone. They wore robes that flowed around them, and around their necks, pendants that had the symbols of the four Elements engraved in them.

"Find the woman that has a pendant that doesn't have the four symbols engraved on it." Instructed Kai.

So the Guardians complied. It wasn't too long before Max's triumphant cry of "found it!" rang through the air.

The group stood behind him. "There!" he said as he pointed to the lady. Sure enough, her pendant was hollow and blank.

Crouching down, Kai slipped the disc into place then stood back. The disk sunk in and spun once. With a gurgling sound, the water in the fountain drained away until it was empty.

A panel at the bottom of the fountain slid open revealing a set of stairs. Kai hopped back in the fountain and walked over to the stairs.

The others joined him and peered down.

"We're not seriously going down there, are we? It stinks!" muttered Tyson.

"Good, you'll fit right in then." Replied Kai as he started walking down.

Once they were all through, the panel above their heads slid shut, enveloping them in darkness.

Kai held his index finger out, the tip of it instantly flaring up and giving the group light. Kai allowed the flame to grow brighter and bigger until he held it in his palm.

"Lets go."

Moving in single file, the group began the slow descent to the bottom.

* * *

Hilary sighed as she tripped again. Tyson crashed into her.

"Oi, will you keep going!" he demanded.

"Well so-rry!" snapped Hilary. "But this darn Kimono keeps getting in the way!"

"You've still got that on?"

"What? Did you expect me to run around naked?!"

"Hilary give me your hand again." Ordered Kai as he stopped. Hilary did as she was told. This time the feeling was different; she could feel the power leaving her. As it travelled from her hand to Kai's, instead of a red gleam, there was a dull grey.

Pulling his hand away Kai kept walking. Hilary looked down at herself and smiled. "Much better. Hey Kai, why was there a different colour?"

"You have no or little magical energy, and the energy that you possess is not Elemental or Manipulative, hence the dull grey."

"Does the colour red mean anything? Like does it mean you're really powerful, more powerful than the pig behind me?"

"Hey!" protested Tyson, but Hilary ignored him.

"Kai? Well does it?" she asked.

"Hn."

The stairs eventually turned to flat ground, which sloped down. It soon levelled out and after a bit more walking; the Guardians came to a large iron door. On the wall next to it was a large groove, which Kai placed his hand in. The groove was made of iron and the metal wrapped around Kai's hand. It stayed like that for a while before the iron receded and Kai pulled his hand back.

With a tired groan, the door opened and a wave of fresh air hit the group. They stepped through the door and everyone, save Kai, stared in awe.

"What is this place?" breathed Max as he turned to look around.

"The village named after the Great Protector."

* * *

**i'm really quite happy with this chapter... and i'd be really gald to know what others thought!**

**bye!**

**kavbj**


	12. Chapter 12 Poles

**_Chapter 12 -_** **_Poles_**

They walked along the cobbled streets, eyes darting around as they took in their strange surroundings. Tall, rickety looking houses lined the street, leaning in as though they were about to fall. Almost like chimneys, vents ran all the way up earth walls, leading up to the underground village's ceiling and disappearing.

Looking out of the corner of his eye, Kai saw the others slightly behind, looking at everything. "The vents are for air, they lead to the surface. Because this is near the entrance to the village, this area isn't very wide, when we get further along, there'll be heaps more room, this place will look like your everyday village."

The group kept walking. Strange curling poles were along the streets edges, a strange glowing orb at the top of them being held in place by the poles claw like tendrils. The orbs slowing changed from colour to colour, giving off light, and as Rei watched Kai, tired of looking at the same thing over and over, Rei looked at him curiously as the teen seemed to try and stay as far away as possible from the lamps. _Strange…_

* * *

They had been walking for 20 minutes with no change in scenery and no sign of other life forms.

"Why aren't there any other people?" Max asked quietly, eyes darting around nervously.

"… There could be a number of places where they could be. But they are not here, reason being that these houses are too close to the entrance. If an enemy were to find this place, it'd be dangerous. This is their protection, their little hiding place. Whenever they are in trouble, they come running down here like frightened animals. See that gate?" Kai pointed ahead of them and the group nodded.

"Everyone should be behind that gate. They stay there, the leaders of the village watching and waiting to see when the intruders up above leave. Using the power of the gate, they create an illusion. The area where we are now wouldn't exist. Instead, there would be large craters with horrible yellow slime everywhere and these caterpillar things everywhere, going from one crater to the next."

"What's so bad about that? Can't you, you know, pound them into the ground with your foot?" Tyson waved his hand airily as if the suggestion was obvious.

Kai turned and faced them, walking backwards, and smirked. "I'd love to see you try."

He turned back around. "The caterpillars are huge, when full grown, they're longer than my height. Their legs are like claws and horribly sharp. They have two large pincers, they smell terribly fowl, they're extremely difficult to kill and they eat anything, and I mean_ anything_."

"But it's just an illusion…" Kenny mumbled to himself as he reached out to touch one of the strange lights, the urge to analyse them becoming too great to ignore. So much, that he wasn't fearful of what Kai had described.

"Yes." Replied Kai, hearing what Kenny had said. He glanced at the younger teen, eyes widening in alarm. "Don't touch that!" he screamed, throwing his arm out. Kenny's eyes widened at the sudden outburst and he hurriedly pulled back.

A chain of flames emerged from the centre of Kai's palm and flew out towards Kenny, wrapping around his waist, the end flicking up wrapping around his wrist. With a sharp tug, Kai yanked Kenny back in. He grabbed Kenny by his collar and brought him in close.

"Don't touch anything." He hissed. "Not here. As soon we're in the village you can touch and analyse as many things as you want, but not. Now." Kai released a trembling Kenny and kept walking as though nothing had happened.

"Are you ok Kenny?" asked Hilary, rushing over to him, Max, Rei and Tyson behind her.

"Yeah I'm fine." Kenny mumbled absentmindedly. _Why were you so eager to stop me? What's going on? You get more interesting by the minute Kai. I'll have to ask Dizzi later._

"Is your wrist burned?"

"Huh?" Kenny looked down at his wrist, which he had been unconsciously rubbing while he had been thinking. "I don't think so."

"Let me have a look." Offered Rei, taking Kenny's wrist into his hands gently. He turned it over and lightly touched the area.

Around Kenny's wrist was a thin red line where he had been burned. Rei searched his pack for something he could put on the burn but when he went to go put it on, he frowned.

Noticing Rei's expression Tyson asked, "What's wrong? I swear I'm going to kill Kai! Who does he think he is?!"

The four of them ignored Tyson's rant, waving him off.

"What _is_ wrong Rei?" Max asked. He stared at Kenny's wrist to see if he could see anything.

"Uh Max, my arm doesn't turn that way." Said Kenny, wincing in pain as Max continued to try and twist his arm.

"Oh, sorry Chief." Max laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Chief?" Kenny raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah Tyson came up with it! You like?"

Ignoring Max, Kenny and Tyson, Rei looked at Kenny's wrist and then pulled off one of his gloves, turning over his hand and staring at the strange writing on his palm. Much like his own mark had done earlier, Kenny's burn began to flash from colour to colour. Slowly it turned black and Kenny yelped, grabbing his wrist tightly.

Rei pulled back as Hilary gushed over Kenny. "I can't fix this. Only Kai can."

Max and Tyson looked at him confused. Rei held up his palm. "This, happened when I touched Kai one time and my hand got burned. See what Kenny's wrist is doing now? Well my burn did that too. Remember when we all got caught in that premonition? Yeah well that's when Kai healed my burn and it turned into this. So if we want that burn on Kenny's wrist healed, we need to see Kai."

They found Kai waiting for them by the gate.

Grabbing Kenny roughly by his uninjured wrist, Tyson marched to Kai. "I don't care what this is but fix it. Now." He demanded, holding Kenny's burned wrist up to Kai's face.

Kai slowly opened his chocolate coloured eyes and they flickered to Kenny's burn, narrowing when they settled on it. Kai jerked away hissing.

"Keep it away." He snarled dangerously, his black bangs shadowing his left eye.

"This?! You're the one who gave it to him!" Tyson cried angrily, once again stepping in front of Kai, dragging Kenny with him.

Kai jerked back again, hissing and clenching a hand to his chest.

Stamping his foot impatiently, Tyson lurched forward again.

This time when Kai jerked back with a growl of "take it away!" he let out a small cry of pain as he hit one of the poles he had stopped Kenny from touching earlier.

The group stopped and stared at Kai as he writhed in pain. Tyson dropped Kenny's wrist and took an unsure step froward. "Kai…?"

Kai cried out again and arched forward, his right shoulder hitting the pole hard. He turned his head to the side, breathing ragged, sweat rolling off his temples. Finally, the pain stopped and Kai stood there panting, head bowed, legs weak and about ready to collapse.

"Kai… are you… alright?" Tyson asked nervously, taking a few more steps forward.

Kai raised his head ever so slightly, his bangs matted to his forehead, his face sweaty and flushed. The rest of his alter ego's usually tanned complexion was deathly pale. His eyes turned to look at Kenny.

"Still… think I was wrong… in stopping you… ear-lier?" panted Kai. He clutched his stomach and heaved before falling weakly to his knees. Tyson was immediately at his side, holding his hair back as he heaved again, rubbing circles on his back and muttering reassuring words to him as the Dragon's stormy irises watched Kai worriedly.

Kai kept heaving, unable to stop and before he knew it, his stomach had emptied all of its contents and he was throwing up blood.

Rei, who had joined Tyson, was immediately alert and alarmed. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and tore a strip off. He held it up to Max. "Wet it with cold water." He ordered.

Max nodded and took the strip from Rei, wetting it the minute it touched his hands. He passed it back to Rei who pressed the damp cloth against Kai's feverish forehead.

Rei's eyes travelled up to Tyson's and he smiled shakily. Tyson smiled back and ran his eyes over Kai again. He pulled his hand that had been on Kai's back sharply.

"What?" demanded Rei.

"His back… I didn't even notice before, I mean I was so caught up in trying to soothe him I somehow missed it!"

Raising an eyebrow, Rei said, "Hilary, check out whatever Tyson's rambling about."

Hilary walked behind Tyson and gasped. "His back… his shirt and cloak's all torn and his back… his back…" she shuddered. "His back's all burned. It's this huge strip leading from the nape of his neck to the base of his spine. The skin's red raw and bleeding in some areas. But the strip's not straight its…" she glanced at the pole and then at Rei. "The same shape at _that_." She pointed at the pole.

"All this because he touched a pole?!" Max exclaimed, switching places with Tyson.

"Geez Chief, you're lucky Kai stopped you earlier."

Kenny nodded solemnly and looked at his wrist. He clenched his fist and looked up at Tyson. "We need to get help. We don't know what that pole did, only Kai does and he's the one in trouble."

Tyson glanced at Kai, who was trembling as he sat there on all fours. He opened his mouth again and heaved.

Kai cursed mentally as he heaved again, his entire form shaking horribly. He cursed himself for banging into the pole. He heaved again. He cursed Tyson for bringing that _burn_ near him. His body shook terribly. He cursed Kenny for being so stupid and not thinking of the dangers when he went to touch the pole. He slammed his fist on the ground, surprising Rei. He cursed his emotions, the want to desperately cry, as the effects of the pole messed with his emotions. Finally his body gave up.

Rei bit his lip as Kai fell to the side, lying on his side as his body trembled, a line of blood trickling from his mouth. Kai coughed, blood spraying from his mouth and splattering on the street. Weary mismatched eyes stared straight ahead, not even having enough energy to keep his disguise in place. He slammed his fist against the ground again, his body shuddering as he whimpered slightly.

He cursed them for not knowing. And he needed them to know… the words. He needed them to know them!

"The mark…" he wheezed. "Give me the burn…"

"What? Kai you're too weak. You're body's having spasms, you're choking up blood and your looks keep shifting because you're running out of magical energy, how do you expect to heal that damn thing?!" Rei snapped. He desperately pulled Kai's cloak and shirt off, leaving his chest and more importantly, his back bare. Rei examined the burn.

Kai squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip. His body began to glow with a strange red aura and he whimpered as a searing pain flooded his veins. He was running out of magical energy like Rei had said and fast.

"What's happening?" asked Max.

"Empathy." Replied Kenny.

"But that didn't happen last time."

Kenny shrugged. "Yes but last time, he wasn't at the last of his magical energy, he wasn't in searing pain and he didn't have to struggle to keep his eyes open."

Feeling that he was ready, Kai threw his mind out. If this didn't work, then damn it; he was too tired to actually speak so this _had_ to work.

'_You need… to say the … words. We-wel-c-c-come…' _he felt the connection wavering. He didn't even know whose head he was in!

"Stop it Kai." Pleaded Rei. "Just stop it! Please!"

Obviously he had ended up in Rei's head. But the connection was cut so Rei had just spoken verbally. Or maybe… he sighed then broke out into a coughing fit, blood splattering on the street again.

Kai's body shook violently and he held out a shaking hand. "Where's… the burn…?"

Going against all of his instincts, Kenny stepped forward and placed his wrist in Kai's shaking hand. He ignored the groans of protests coming from Rei as he kneeled down next to Kai, ready for whatever would happen.

Just like when he had healed Rei, Kai gripped Kenny's wrist tightly, a feral smirk spreading across his face. He arched back and his wings emerged but this time, Kai screamed.

Tyson winced as Kai screamed in pain. Hearing a quiet sob, Tyson's head whipped to the side. His eyes softened when he saw Hilary.

"You ok?" he asked quietly.

"Y-yeah. It's just… scary, you know? I don't like this at all…" she sobbed again and Tyson wrapped a reassuring arm around her shoulders, both of them wincing as Kai screamed again.

Max crawled hurriedly to Rei. Rei smiled sadly at the Water Guardian and laced his fingers with Max's.

Kenny shuddered as Kai looked up him with glassy, distant eyes. The chocolate eyes switched to crimson and began to glow brightly. They soon slowly faded to black and so did his wings. Kenny's mark switched to black as well and began creeping up his arm, causing the mousy haired boy to cry out in pain at the burning sensation.

Kai brought Kenny's wrist to his lips. His eyes were crimson with the occasional flicker of black and his wings were still black. Kai blew gentle flames onto the mark and closed his eyes, two crimson tears rolling off his cheeks and onto the mark.

Tyson walked over to Max and Rei, Hilary towing behind them.

"Should we do it again?"

Rei contemplated the question. Max answered for him. "Yes, let's."

Kenny's mark had turned silvery blue, with the same strange symbols that Rei had on his palm.

"Now!" cried Max and the four of them lunged forward, placing their hands over the top of Kai's.

The black moon and red sky appeared. Kai's eyes flashed, he raised his wings. The marks showed up and glowed brightly. When the wind died down, Max, Rei and Tyson couldn't help but give a groan of disappointment as the same two scenes as last time played out before them. When the second scene finished, the images began fading and they saw glimpses of where they actually were. The images kept shimmering, switching from the premonition to real life.

"Welcome to the village of the Great Protector. Don't ask, who he is, just know he was great." Hissed Kai.

Their heads turned to him and they nodded. With that, the premonition disappeared altogether and they were returned to the village.

Kai tightened his grip on Kenny's wrist, causing him to look down at him.

"Say… it… you have to… say it…" Kai's arm fell limp and slipped from Kenny's wrist, hitting the ground, and his eyes slipped shut as the rest of his body fell limp.

He cursed himself for banging into the pole.

He cursed Tyson for bringing that _burn_ near him.

He cursed Kenny for being so stupid and not thinking of the dangers when he went to touch the pole.

He cursed his emotions, the want to desperately cry, as the effects of the pole messed with his emotions.

He cursed his body for giving up the battle.

He cursed himself for giving into the pain.

But most of all, he cursed himself for being… _weak._

* * *

Tala tucked a strand of his red hair behind his ear as he walked along the village streets and to where he and his team were staying.

'_I wonder if Bry's woken up yet… _Tala tightened his grip on the bag of groceries he was carrying and quickened his steps.

Walking into the inn, he smiled and greeted the girl behind the bar but as soon as he was well away from her, his face fell and he rolled his eyes.

He went up a flight of stairs and stopped in front of their room. Unlocking the door, he stepped in quietly and placed the groceries on the table. He began to unpack them, tucking his hair behind his ear again when it fell forward.

"Hey Tala!"

Tala smirked. "Hey Ian. Bryan up now?" he tipped the grocery bag upside down. A few more apples rolled out and then a whole bunch of small weapons fell out.

Ian walked over and picked up one of the shuriken's and tested it. "Nah, Spence is with him now though."

Tala sighed and nodded to show he understood. He made his way over to the bedroom and opened the door quietly and looked in.

"Spencer?" he whispered.

Spencer grunted in reply. Tala walked over to him.

"Well? How is he? Figured out what he got from me yet?" asked Tala as he sat down on the floor.

Spencer opened his eyes and looked at the Ice Manipulator. "He should wake up soon. Though he should have woken up a while ago… anyway he's probably still sleeping because his body's not used to that much alcohol and is probably trying to get it out of his system. As for what he got from you…" Spencer shrugged.

Tala stood again. "I would say tell me when he wakes up, but you've been sitting here since we got here. C'mon, I brought food."

The two of them walked out, but not before Spencer quickly made sure that Bryan was ok.

The three of them were eating lunch, listening to Ian's rambling, when they heard the door to the bedroom open and close.

"Hey Bry!" greeted Ian as the Falcon stepped into the room. "Feeling better."

Bryan didn't reply. He took a seat next to Tala; eyes still closed and rested his head on his arms.

Tala pushed a plate over to Bryan. "Eat. It'll do you some good."

Bryan groaned and shoved the plate away, much to Tala's annoyance.

"Figured out what you got from me yet?" asked Tala as he pushed the plate back to Bryan.

Bryan groaned again and shook his head, hissing, as his pounding headache grew stronger with the motion.

"Well stand up and let us have a look."

Bryan stood slowly and opened his eyes.

The other three stared at him before Ian began laughing.

Bryan frowned.

"Go look in the mirror." Instructed Spencer.

So Bryan did. And he groaned. Looking back at him were two eyes, one lilac and one icy blue.

* * *

Not caring for the others thoughts Tyson screamed at the top of his lungs, "WELCOME TO THE VILLAGE OF THE GREAT PROTECTOR! DON'T ASK, WHO HE IS, JUST KNOW THAT HE WAS GREAT!! AND I HOPE THAT'S RIGHT BECAUSE WE _REALLY_ NEED SOME HELP HERE SO _**HURRY UP!!!**_"

Hilary slapped a hand to her forehead. "Nice Tyson, nice…"

Rei pulled Kai's head onto his lap and ran his fingers through the thick black locks.

Max rubbed his thumb and index finger together and let his hand hang over Kai's back. As Max rubbed, water drizzled from his two fingers, trickling down Kai's burnt back. He ran his hand up and down going over all the burns and the tears from the wings.

"Close enough I'm sure."

Tyson whirled around and stared at the two cloaked men in front of him.

"What is your business here?" the one who spoke earlier stepped forward, hand settling on his sword.

The other man was peering around Tyson, watching the others. "Kav?!"

The mans partner looked at him and then behind Tyson to where Kav was lying. He immediately relaxed. "So Kav has found more recruits." He bowed low. "I am Jacob." He pulled his hood off, revealing wavy brown hair and startling dark magenta eyes.

"And I," said the other man, also bowing low. "Am John." He pulled his hood off to reveal straight ebony hair and deep pink eyes, giving him a feminine look.

Placing two fingers in his mouth, Jacob whistled shrilly and marched over to Kai. Tsking as he examined Kai's back, he said something to John.

John nodded and walked over to the gate, walking through it as though there was nothing there. But as the Guardians watched, they heard a soft humming coming from John and as his image disappeared behind the gate the humming stopped.

With a loud creak, the gate opened, revealing a large and colourful village. On the other side of the open gate stood John, a hand on his hip. Behind him, kneeling on one knee, were four warriors. Each of them wore a mask that covered half their face and there was a weapon strapped to their back.

They rose and stood stiffly, awaiting orders.

John turned to them. "Alert the Elders that Kav is here. Tell them the situation."

They nodded and jumped up. Spinning in the air, they disappeared.

With Rei and Max's help, Jacob picked up Kai, making sure he wasn't touching any of the wounds.

Pressing his fingers to Kai's neck, he felt for a pulse. Frowning, Jacob punched his fingers in and hit the junction on Kai's neck, a sharp sound like that of a flute going off. Kai arched up and took in a sharp breath of air. He released it in a shuddering sigh and fell limp once again.

Rei watched in horror as he figured out what Jacob had done. Kai had stopped breathing, the jolt to the neck somehow forcing him to breathe again.

"Come." Commanded Jacob, walking through the gate into the village.

Walking in a line, the Guardians followed.

"For people who run like frightened animals, they sure have tight security." Tyson whispered to Max, who nodded in response.

* * *

Too busy trying to keep up with John and Jacob, the Guardians didn't get much time to look around. All they knew was that Kai was well known, although they called him Kav, John and Jacob were important, judging from the way that everyone parted to let them through, it was market day, seeing everyone was out on the streets either shopping or selling, and the villagers were friendly.

They kept walking, Jacob occasionally having to jab Kai in the neck to get him breathing again.

* * *

Tala tucked his hair behind his ear, desperately wishing he could put it back up in the usual devil horns. But that would look too conspicuous. And people would most likely recognise him. Eyes travelled to where Bryan was arguing with some stall owner. Sighing, Tala looked from person to person.

He raised an eyebrow curiously and tugged at one of his bangs. Two men were coming towards him, everyone moving out of their way. One of them carried an injured teen in their arms, face serious. He jabbed the teen once or twice in the neck.

Tala's eyes trailed to the group walking behind the two men.

_Well what do you know? _"Hey Falborg!"

Bryan looked over at him. "What?" he snapped.

"They're he-re."

Bryan looked in the same direction and smirked. "Finally, took them long enough. Where's Hiwatari?"

Tala paled. The teen… in that guys arms… Kai. Icy blue eyes darkened and fiery red hair turned brown, skin darkening.

* * *

Jacob stopped and stared down at the teen that had stepped in front of them. The teen ignored them and looked at Kav. He tucked a strand of brown hair behind his ear and smiled tiredly at Kav. He brushed Kav's black hair off his face and traced a finger along his cheek drawing two triangles.

Kenny, Hilary, Tyson and Max exchanged glances. Rei sniffed. That scent was familiar…

"Taylor, what are you doing? Let them pass." Another teen joined the first. His mismatched eyes glanced at Taylor and then up at Jacob. He twisted a strand of lavender hair around his finger and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry about him. We'll let you on your way now. Right Taylor?"

Taylor didn't reply. He smiled up at Jacob and nodded. The lavender haired teen grabbed Taylor by the arm and dragged him off and into the crowd.

* * *

"What do you think you were doing?" hissed Bryan, lip curled up in a feral snarl. He glared furiously at Tala and pulled on his arm to get him to walk faster.

Tala looked away. This was the part he hated about Bryan. The part that had given in to the darkness and the coldness that accompanies it like a 2 in 1 deal. The deal that tore the Falcon's soul apart bit by bit, until Bryan was clinging on to the last shred that was himself.

* * *

Rei frowned. Both of those scents had seemed strikingly familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. Oh well, he didn't have time to think about that right now.

* * *

Max tossed left and right, trying to find a comfortable position and hopefully fall asleep. Sighing, he gave up and sat up, bringing his knees to his chest.

"Can't sleep?" Rei asked quietly as he too sat up.

"Nuh. Same for you?"

"Yeah…"

They both looked over at Tyson when he gave a frustrated grunt and kicked the sheets off, dragging himself into a sitting position. "I give up! I can't sleep! I want to know what's going on!"

There was a knock at the door and Hilary and Kenny entered the room, they too unable to sleep.

The 5 of them talked for a little while but they couldn't help but keep wondering about Kai. Jacob and John, who they had discovered to be brothers, forbid them from seeing Kai and it was irritating them to no end.

When they had arrived at Jacob and John's place, the two had told them that it would be night time soon in the surface world and they were welcome to stay at their place while Kav healed. The Guardians had gladly taken them up on their offer and they were given two bedrooms. Tyson, Max and Rei shared one and Hilary and Kenny shared the other.

Rei stood and placed his hands on his hips. "You know what, I'm going and seeing what's happening." He walked out of the room, Max and Tyson quickly following.

They walked down the hallway and found John sitting and leaning against the wall. His face was tired and drained, his eyes closed and his breathing slow and steady. He was asleep.

Rei placed his hand on the doorknob but the three of them froze when they heard a sleepy moan come from their right.

"Brother?" John's gaze met the three Guardians', and then travelled down to Rei's hand and suddenly, he was fully awake. "You can't go in there!"

"And why not?" demanded Tyson. "We want to know what's going on!"

"Well you're going to have to wait until tomorrow. I'm sorry and I know you're concerned and that you have many questions and I know your urge to see Kav is great but you cant go in now."

The door opened and Jacob stepped out. "John, you ready for your turn now or do you want me to keep going?"

John stood. "No I should be fine."

Jacob looked at his younger brother and stared him in the eye. "Sit. I'll keep going. You, rest."

He walked back into the room, not giving John a chance to say anything.

John huffed and sat down again. "I'm fine. He needs rest. He's been going longer." He mumbled to himself. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Oi Rei, Tyson, look." Whispered Max. He pointed to the door. "He didn't close it properly!" exchanging nervous glances; Rei pushed the door open a bit more. All three of them immediately looked to John to see if he had heard anything. He hadn't.

They peered in, but seeing nothing, they walked into the room and shut the door behind them.

"I don't see why we couldn't come in here." Hissed Tyson as he looked around the room.

Rei hushed him. "Look! Jacob's over there and Kai's on the bed, let's just see what happens."

Jacob sat with his legs crossed, arms held in a praying motion.

His eyes were closed and his breathing was deep. The Guardians almost thought that he had fallen asleep. _Almost._

Though the fact that he was humming and there was a strange pale purple light coming from him, sort of gave him away.

The light filled the whole room, casting strange shadows across the walls.

The sound of girls singing reached the Guardians ear and the shadows began to move.

Kai, who was bound to the bed so he wouldn't roll onto his back, began to thrash and whimper. He arched his back away from the light and tried to pull away but the bindings held him in place.

Jacob opened his eyes, his magenta orbs glowing the same colour as the strange light.

About ten minutes later, everything stopped. The light disappeared, enveloping the room in darkness and Jacob relaxed. He stood up and walked out the door as though the Guardians weren't even there.

Rei, Tyson and Max peeked outside.

Jacob woke his younger brother and helped him up. Supporting John, Jacob helped him walk to their bedroom. He kicked the door open and then kicked backwards to close it behind them.

The Guardians popped back into the room and surrounded Kai's bed.

"Well what was up with that?" asked Tyson, staring quizzically at Kai's weary face.

"I don't know… it doesn't seem to have done anything…" Rei looked thoughtful.

Max turned back to the door. "Well come on, we know he's alright and we saw what was happening, so now we can go to bed."

The moment their heads touched their pillows, they were asleep.

* * *

Tyson woke up to the smell of breakfast. He followed his nose to the kitchen and sat down next to Max.

"What's for brekkie?"

"Eggs and bacon. Jacob and John are still asleep so I thought I should cook breakfast for them as a thank you." Rei placed the food on the table and took a seat. They began to eat.

John soon walked in and smiled tiredly at them. "Hey, did you guys have a good sleep?" he sat down next to Rei and rested his chin in his hand.

"Yeah, the beds were really comfy. Thanks a lot for letting us stay." Chirped Max. He bit into a piece of bread and swallowed it eagerly.

"Where's Jacob?" asked Kenny. His eyes never left the scroll he was reading.

"Checking on Kav. We got the poison out of his system last night now he just has to heal. But it shouldn't take too long."

"Poison?" Hilary handed a plate of food to John.

He smiled. "Thanks but I can't eat. Yeah poison."

"You should eat."

John looked up at Jacob as he entered the room. "Aww, but I'm not hungry."

"You'll need it after last night." Jacob got a glass of water and leaned against the counter. He rubbed a hand over his face tiredly.

"Yeah but you're not going to eat."

Jacob's eyes hardened. "I'm different. Eat. _Now._"

Grumbling, John stabbed a piece of bacon with his fork and began eating.

"Kav should be able to leave in a few days. He's always healed fast. The poison from the pole has been removed. He's still got a bit of a fever. I gave him some food before I came in here but he threw it back up. He can't stay awake for long either. You can see him after breakfast if you'd like." Jacob yawned and began washing the dishes that Rei had used to cook breakfast.

"So…" John said. "…How did Kav find you lot? What can you guys do?"

Max and Rei glanced at each other and before they could stop him, Tyson piped up, speaking through a mouthful of food. "We're the Guardians!"

John dropped his fork and choked on the piece of bacon he had been chewing. Hilary handed him a glass of water and he gulped it down.

Jacob dropped the plate he was cleaning. It smashed on the ground.

John stood and Jacob took his place next to his brother. Simultaneously, they crossed an arm over their chest and knelt down on one knee, heads bowed.

"Uh…" Tyson chewed slowly and looked at the two young men, completely confused.

They looked up and unsheathed their swords. "We are at your service, Guardians." They held their swords out to the side and bowed down lower.

"Um… rise?" tried Max.

The two young men sheathed their swords and stood.

Body tense, Jacob scooped up the broken plate. John sat down again, refusing to meet the Guardians' eyes.

"Jacob? Where are you going?" asked John as his brother stepped into the hallway.

Jacob stopped. "To get the place ready for the Elders. Also to find more suitable accommodation for the Guardians."

"But we're perfectly fine with everything you've offered us!" Rei said hurriedly. Jacob ignored him and left.

An awkward silence fell over those left in the kitchen.

John stood and looked at the floor. "Thank you for breakfast. I shall go check on Kav and then assist my brother." He bowed and left the room.

Hilary glared at Tyson.

"What?" asked Tyson. Hilary glared harder at him then turned away with a 'hmph!'.

"Nice going Tyson." Mumbled Rei. He rested his chin in his hand and sighed.

Tyson frowned. What had he done wrong?

* * *

_there ya go! what did you think? sorry its been a while since the last update... but this is my longer chapter EVER i think. and i was quite happy with my Kai torture... whaddaya think?_

_bye!_

_kavbj_

_oh thanks sooooooooooo much to those who reviewed my last chappie! and happy chinese new year!_


	13. Chapter 13 Past Lives

**_Chapter 13_**

John walked silently through the corridor; stopping in front of the room Kav was in. Taking a breath and releasing it as a sigh, he pushed the door open and walked in quietly.

"Kav?" he called quietly. John frowned when he saw the curtains flapping about and walked over to see why the window was open. Maybe Jacob had opened it.

John closed the window then turned to check on Kav, only for his eyes to widen and a small curse escape his lips.

Now he knew why the window was open.

* * *

"What did I do?" Tyson asked again. He threw his hands up in the air exasperatedly and sat with an annoyed grunt.

"You shouldn't have said anything!" snapped Rei.

"Well sorry how was I supposed to know?"

"It's called common sense!" Hilary yelled back at Tyson.

"Hey guys lo-" Max closed his mouth when three angry glares were sent his way.

Kenny looked at the others from where he was sitting and shook his head.

"We're the Guardians! People should know who we are!"

"You should've waited to console us all before shouting it out as though it were an everyday subject!" stressed Rei.

"Well to us it is! In case you haven't noticed –"

This time the argument was cut off by a knock at the door.

Shooting one more glare at Tyson, one that said 'we'll finish this later', Hilary opened the door to see a worried John standing there.

"What's up?" asked Hilary, her brow crinkling.

"It-" for the third time, someone was cut off. John's eyes widened as he heard the front door open and close and the about 8 different voices, as well as Jacob's.

"Wait here!" John hissed. He closed the door and locked it. "And stay quiet. I'll be back in a second."

Taking a breath, John headed for the voices, smiling when he came in sight of the Elders. He bowed down low respectfully and waited until he was permitted to rise.

"Rise young one."

Slowly, John did. He came face to face with his brother's exhausted, annoyed and angry face and jerked his head back a bit.

Jacob plastered a smile on his face and turned back to the Elders. "If you'll just head for the kitchen and we'll meet you there."

As soon as the Elders were out of the room, John faced his brother.

"They're in their room and Kav's missing."

"Good and I know."

"You know?"

"Yes, I saw him running along one of the alleys, but because I was with the Elders I couldn't say or do anything."

"Well we need to get him back somehow, and get the Guardians out."

"I know!" Jacob bit his lip in thought. Finally his eyes lit up and he grinned.

"Come on." He said to his brother before heading for the kitchen.

* * *

John headed for the room he had locked the Guardians in, shaking his head. God he hoped Jacob knew what he was doing.

Quickly unlocking the door, John slipped into the room and shut the door behind him.

"Finally!" exclaimed Tyson. He stood only to be shoved back down by John and to have a hand cover his mouth.

"Ok all of you listen carefully." John whispered. "Kav's gone into town. Don't worry; it's a side effect of the poison. He's probably just delusional. Now, we have the Elders here, and you can't let them know who you guys truly are." John stamped on Tyson's foot just for good measure, making sure he got the point across.

"Now Hilary, Kenny. You're going to go into the kitchen. You are relatives of Jacob's late fiancée and are staying with us for a couple of weeks." John pulled a few papers out of his pocket and handed them to Hilary and Kenny. "Here are you're documents. We've already recorded you in the books. You can use your names, but not your surnames. You shall be known as Hilary and Kenny Martinez. You're sister was Jennifer."

John turned to the Guardians and took his hand from Tyson's mouth. "Now you lot, you're going to come into town with me, and we're going to find Kav then take all of you to the accommodation Jacob found for you. Kenny, Hilary, go through to the kitchen. Jacob will give you signals on what to do. The rest of you are coming with me."

Wishing the others good luck, Kenny and Hilary left the room and headed for the kitchen.

"Right. Step 2." John faced the wall and traced a line from the tip of his middle finger to the bottom of his hand, then repeated it on his right hand. Small little holes appeared where the lines were traced. John flexed his fingers then let them dance along his hands and over the holes. Notes began playing. The wall that John had been facing began to slide back so that there was a big enough gap for everyone to get through.

"Come on lets go." Ordered John as he stopped playing and walked out of the room and onto the grass. Once everyone was through, John closed the wall.

* * *

Kai walked down the streets, keeping to the shadows. He was sure they were here. Why he was going after them though, he didn't know. What he did know however was that for some strange reason, he had a huge longing feeling to see them again. To just be able to collapse in front of them and break down. Let every fear and hope come spilling out of his mouth, to people he didn't even know. He didn't know them; he didn't recognise the feeling and he didn't know what the hell he was doing.

* * *

"So, why are we doing this again?" asked Tyson.

John growled as his patience wore thin. Why couldn't Jacob have done this part, and he the other? Jacob had more patience for this sort of thing. Ok screw that, Jacob had very little patience, but he would have been able to shut them up easily.

"Because," stressed John through clenched teeth. "We need to find Kav and get you guys to an inn or something, or better yet, out of this place completely."

"But _why?_"

Knowing that he was never going to shut Tyson up completely unless he gave them the full answer, John stopped and sighed.

The Guardians landed next to him on the roof and stared at him expectantly.

"Ok, one reason is that Kav'll be delusional, it's an after effect of the poison, and who knows what he's going to do? Secondly," he started running again, leaping from roof to roof. "For some time now, Jacob and I, as well as a few of the Elders and villagers, have suspected a traitor amongst the Elders. We just don't know who. Therefore it is dangerous for the Elders to know your true rank, as we don't know who will do what. Also, you guys aren't very liked by quite a few of the people who live here. There he is!" John hurriedly changed direction, picking up speed as he saw Kai running from alleyway to alleyway.

* * *

Kai turned down one more alleyway then pulled out onto the street, just in time to see two of them walking past. Kai ran faster, trying to catch up to them. And finally he did.

* * *

"There's someone following us," murmured Bryan. Tala nodded. He stopped at one of the stalls and picked up an apple, pretending to inspect it as he gave Bryan time to properly scan the premises with his other set of eyes.

Sharp, brown falcon eyes looked around, the owner ignoring the strain in his temporarily blue eye. "Kav?"

Tala dropped the apple, and then fumbled with it as he tried to catch it. Finally setting it down, Tala turned to face the direction Bryan was looking at.

Just as they were about to switch appearances, Kai was in front of them and begging them not to change.

"Don't worry. Look at his eyes. He's not with it." Murmured Bryan. "He poses no threat unless you rile him up."

Tala nodded.

Kav opened his mouth to say something when his name was called. He closed his mouth and looked up. Lifting his arm slowly, he waved.

Tala's eyes widened as his ears recognised the voices. "Crap, it's them."

Bryan growled. "Stuff the appearance changing crap, we're going." He grabbed Tala by the wrist just as a strong gust of wind came, and suddenly, they were gone.

* * *

John pulled out a wooden flute and twirled it around his fingers before pressing it to his lips as he and the Guardians jumped down in front of Kai.

As John began to play, the same purple aura that had surrounded Jacob the night before appeared. A purple wisp separated and touched Kai gently on the forehead.

"Become who you are in heart, mind and body." A voice whispered.

Realising what it meant, The Guardians cried out but it was too late. In a swirl of flames, Kav's appearance disappeared and Kai stood there.

John dropped his flute and looked at Kai. "Let me guess, you're the Fourth?"

Kai stared at the flute, blinked twice, lifted his head to meet John's gaze, stretched his wings and finally, nodded.

* * *

"Kav… is _Kai?_" exclaimed Tala. He and Bryan were standing on the roof of one of the houses opposite to where the Guardians were.

"Kai is Kav… Kav is Kai! I mean we were pretty sure but now it's definite! Do you know what this means?" Tala couldn't stop the small bit of excitement that showed on his face.

Bryan scowled at him. "It means we have to contact Master Boris and Lord Voltaire and make them aware of the situation and see if the orders have changed."

"Well, I wasn't actually thinking it meant that but – "

"You'd better catch me as I fall."

"Huh?" Tala turned to look at Bryan just in time to see his companion's body slump forward and almost go toppling over the edge. Tala's hands shot out and he grabbed Bryan, drawing him back in. Kneeling and wrapping one arm around the Falcon's waist while using his other hand to cradle Bryan's head against his shoulder; Tala looked back down on the Guardians before resting his chin atop of Bryan's head. "Idiot." He murmured. "You absolute idiot, you should have waited." Tala smirked and closed his eyes, letting his mind Connect with Bryan's.

* * *

Kai was quick to bring up his disguise again, the smiling face of Kav greeting a confused and irritated John.

"I… you, you could have told us you know. You of all people know the history of this town." John explained gruffly.

Kai nodded slowly. "And that is exactly why I didn't let you guys know. Jacob hates the Guardians enough as it is, and this village is filled with many people who aren't what I would call huge supporters. I was actually ready to tell you and the Elders a while ago but then there was the whole… 'suspicion' thing so, I just waited and let the Three Sisters of Fate decide when would be the right time."

John only stared at Kai then picked up his wooden flute with gentle fingers.

"You know you keep talking of something bad, I'm sure of it," stated Tyson. "But what exactly, is this bad thing that made some of the villagers and Jacob hate us?"

John smiled. "Jacob doesn't hate you… he just feels… an extreme disliking towards you at times… most times…" John trailed off and bit his lip thoughtfully. He shrugged and grinned.

"The occurrence that happened a few years ago has nothing to do with us physically, emotionally or mentally. Through Soul, Connection and History, three of the most important things to a Guardian, the occurrence is important." Explained Kai.

_**FLASHBACK**_

_Blowing a strand of hair off of her face, Aya sighed and leaned back against the crates behind her. What was taking those idiots so long goddamn it! She twirled a strand of dodger-blue hair around her finger and smirked. Dodger-blue, or so the artist of the group had said._

_Speaking of the so called artist, he was the first to step out of the store, frowning ever so slightly. Electric blue eyes were focused on the object in his hand though with a cough from Aya, they raised and Caleb smiled._

_"Hello." He greeted, his voice deep and smooth._

_Aya rolled her eyes. "Oh don't hello me, where are the others?" she stood and dusted herself off._

_"Right here." The red head stepped out, the ochre hair peeping over his shoulder alerting Aya to Dagan's presence._

_"Ravi!" snapped Aya. She marched over to the redhead and glared._

_Ravi smiled back. "Yes Aya dearest? What is it babe?"_

_Aya's eyebrow twitched. "First off, don't you call me babe, got it? Unless of course you'd like to come face to face with my Sword of the Storms, or better yet, Dragoon?" She smiled._

_"Does it matter? Dranz' would just fry them both for me."_

_Rolling his eyes, Caleb walked over to Dagan and smiled at him gently._

_"Would you like me to help you with that?" Caleb asked politely, gesturing to the yellow bandana in the younger boy's hands._

_Dagan tightened his grip on the bandana, running his fingers over the gold writing before nodding slowly and handing the piece of cloth to Caleb._

_Caleb stepped behind Dagan and wrapped is gently around Dagan's head, successfully pulling the long ochre bangs out of the Sand Manipulator's face._

_"Ugh I give up!" was Aya's frustrated cry as she stormed past Caleb and Dagan._

_"I knew I'd win her over eventually." Ravi grinned at Dagan and slung an arm around the younger boy's shoulders. "So Daggie, how ya been?"_

_A year before, Dagan would have stuttered and blushed, but after spending even a month with the Fire Manipulator, he knew by now to just shove Ravi off of him and keep walking. And that's exactly what he did._

_"To think he used to crave for my loving touch." Sobbed Ravi. He leant his head against Caleb's shoulder, pretending to cry harder, only to find his pillar gone._

_"Caleb? Not you too!" he wailed as he saw the Water Manipulator walking next to Aya and Dagan. "I feel so betrayed!"_

* * *

_Knocking on the door quietly, Dagan waited patiently. When no one came, he frowned and pulled at one of his bangs, which had annoyingly enough slipped over and under the bandana. If only he had his old bandana, that had worked perfectly, but that stupid Eagle…_

_Ravi sighed and ruffled Dagan's hair playfully. "You gotta knock louder, like this." And then Ravi demonstrated what he meant as he pounded against the door. As he brought his fist down again, flames leapt up and around his fist, so that when the fist made contact with the door, the flames burnt right through it._

_"Ok maybe not quite like that." Said Ravi. He ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. "Oh hi!" he greeted as a startled young face appeared through the hole._

_"Hi J-"_

_"No don't tell me!" cried Ravi and Caleb reared back startled._

_"Wavy brown hair, dark magenta eyes… you must be… Justin!" Ravi smiled triumphantly, but his expression quickly fell when the child shook his head._

_"Alright then… John!" again the child shook his head._

_"Jay?" shaking his head again, the child crossed his arms._

_"Move Ravi!" demanded Aya, and she shoved the redhead out of the way. Crouching so that she was eye level with the child, she smiled. "Hi sweetie! Can yo- eh? Where'd he go?"_

_"You probably frightened him," mumbled Caleb as he leaned against the wall. He watched on amused as Dagan gently shoved both Aya and Ravi out of the way and crouched down, his low ponytail tumbling over his shoulder to brush against his knee._

_"Hi Jacob how are you?" greeted Dagan, smiling._

_"Yep, yep." Ravi nodded. "Jacob, that would've have been my next guess."_

_"They only have four sons." Caleb pointed out. "And you listed three but the right one, what else were you going to say other than Jacob?"_

* * *

_Jacob peered through the hole in the door and into the yellow eyes. These people were freaks. Were his parents actually friends with them? Though the yellow eyed freak wasn't too bad. And he hadn't had the chance to speak to the fourth freak._

_"Jacob who is it?"_

_Jacob stepped back to let his oldest brother, Jay get a look._

_"Hi Jay."_

_"Hello Dagan, I'm guessing you are here to see my parents?" amaranth eyes travelled to the edge of the hole. "And I'm guessing this would be the handiwork of Ravi?"_

_Dagan nodded, answering both questions._

_Unlocking the door, Jay stepped back to the let the unusual group in. Jacob stood next to his brother, arms crossed and looking as serious as an eight year old could look._

_"Congratulations, I heard from some of the villagers that you turned 20 the other day." Caleb waved at Jacob then looked back at Jay._

_"Yeah and thanks." Shutting the door behind the guests, Jay locked it again._

_"So _Jacob_ how are you?" Ravi grinned._

_Jacob crossed his arms and grunted. "Freak," he muttered, heading for the kitchen._

_Jay sighed. "Oi Jake! Come and apologise!"_

_There was no reply from the eight year old and Jay smiled apologetically. "Sorry, he's been rather moody lately, powers fully releasing and all."_

_"At his age?" Aya seemed shocked._

_"Yeah, Dad thinks that Jacob might be the next successor." Jay gestured for the group to follow him. "it's definitely not me, for which I'm thankful, but next year I'm taking charge until we do find out who the successor is. We doubt its Justin, and I'm glad. It'd be horrible for him, seeing as he enjoys his freedom. For a 5 year old, he was terribly… adventurous, now that he's 15, he's just out at dawn, in for supper then out again until about 10. And then there's little John. The fact that he's only three, doesn't give much away."_

_The group entered the kitchen and were immediately hit with the smell of something cooking._

_"Mum, Dad, Justin, Jacob, John."_

_All five of the mentioned people turned._

_Ravi twitched. "And you think I'm stupid for getting all the names wrong." He muttered._

_All four sons had eyes that were a different shade of pink or purple. Jay's were amaranth, Justin's were a red-violet, Jacob's were a dark magenta and John's were a deep pink._

_Jay had wavy ebony hair, Justin had long straight brown hair that he had tied loosely with a strip of cloth, Jacob had wavy brown hair and John has straight ebony hair._

_All four brothers had the same tanned complexion, same squarish jaw, same sturdy gaze, same everything. _(at the moment they may not seem alike but i sorta based them off my friends fam, who, though all have different coloured eyes and all, look terribly alike.)

_Their father shared similar looks with cerise eyes and ebony hair. Tanned complexion, squarish jaw, sturdy gaze._

_Their mother had pale pink eyes and brown curly hair. Other than that and her tanned complexion, she looked nothing like her sons._

_The boys' mother, Marissa, smiled. "Guardians, welcome."_

* * *

_Chatter and laughter echoed off the walls as the group of 10 sat around the table, sharing stories._

_"a-and then!" Ravi cried around his laughter. "She fell into him and the spaghetti went all through her hair! Her face was priceless!"_

_The adults burst out laughing._

_"It's not that funny." Mumbled Aya. She sighed. "That poor waiter was never the same." The comment brought on more laughs and Aya smirked._

_Justin yawned and rested his chin in his hand._

_"What's wrong? Tired?" asked Jacob. He turned away from where he was playing with John and stared at his older brother._

_"No, bored!" whined Justin. He shuffled in his seat. Ugh, he hated this. Why must they sit all day?_

_"Why? Mum and Dad and Jay are having a good time, and some of the stories are funny."_

_"You don't get it do you pipsqueak?"_

_"Stop calling me that!"_

_Justin ignored him. "I don't want to listen to stories; I want to create my own, to be able to tell to my friends and family when I'm older. But to do that I need to get out of here and out to there." He pointed outside the window._

_"I don't see why you can't just stay for a little bit longer. I'm sure it'd make everyone happy."_

_"Argh! You're such a Mama's Boy!"_

_"Am not!"_

_"Yes, you are! Admit it!"_

_Jacob crinkled his nose in annoyance and Justin decided to toy with him._

_"Mama's Boy! Mama's Boy!" he taunted repeatedly, smirking. John giggled and clapped his hands._

_Jacob growled. His eyes flashed dangerously and Justin immediately stopped._

_"n-no Jake! I was only kidding!" He waved his hands in front of him to show he meant no harm._

_Eye glowing with a strange purple light, Jacob opened his mouth and screamed._

_The adults cried out as things went flying everywhere, strong winds whipping through the air and high sounds cracking and smashing glass._

_Aya pushed her hair out of her face and squinted against the wind. The one day she wears her hair out, she sighed._

_Ravi couldn't help but laugh and Dagan smiled, enjoying the way his hair whipped around in the wind. His smile turned into a scowl as his bandana came undone and flew off, his bangs falling into his eyes again._

_Caleb raised his eyebrows, impressed with the power. Calmly, he caught the candle holder that came flying past, catching a photo frame next._

_"No! No stop Jacob!" Justin waved his hands frantically, trying to get his younger brother to stop screaming._

_John was laughing and clapping, thinking everything was just one big game._

_Jay and his parents tried to help Justin in trying to get Jacob to stop screaming. And finally, he did._

_Panting, the eighty year old glared at Justin then looked around the room and smiled sheepishly. The table had tipped over, plates were smashed against the walls and floor, some of the curtains had ripped off and Aya was grumbling as she tried to get her hair to stay down._

_Jalen, the father, turned to the Guardians and smiled. "I wish I could say that this little incident was unusual, but lately, it's become pretty regular."_

_Aya was impressed. "Don't apologise! That was amazing! To have so much power on tap, it's great! And he's eight, you say? Truly amazing." She shook her head in bewilderment but instantly regretted the action as her hair sprung up. Great._

* * *

_"Jacob, Jacob wake up."_

_Jacob groaned and rolled over, ready to glare at the intruder. "Jay?"_

_"Shh, yeah. Come on quick, get dressed and then come with me ok?"_

_"Why? What's going on?"_

_"Don't worry." Came Justin's voice. He stood in the doorway, a half asleep John in his arms._

_Jacob swallowed and nodded nervously, not liking the anxious and dare he say it, fearful, look in his brothers' eyes. But he did as he was told and was soon ready._

_Jay grabbed him by the hand. "Come on. Follow Justin."_

_The 15 year old led them through the eerily quiet house and to his bedroom. Quietly opening the door, Justin peered around nervously then gave a thumbs up._

_Jay nodded and squeezed Jacob's hand._

_John yawned loudly and Justin urgently hushed him._

_Suddenly, there was a large bang and the house shook. Jay slowly reopened his eyes and looked down at Jacob who looked back with large scared eyes._

_Standing, Jay lifted Jacob into his arms then looked towards Justin._

_Justin stood as well, John still clutched tightly in his arms. He nodded at Jay to say he was ok then headed over to his bed. Placing John on the floor, he pulled the bed away from the wall. On the wall was a handle and Justin pulled on it, opening a secret hutch. He stuck his head inside._

_Jay waited anxiously. Finally, Justin pulled his head out and shook his head._

_"That last explosion rattled the tunnel too much, it's too risky now. Anything could come crashing down, the whole tunnel included."_

_Jay bit his lip. "Fine, check outside carefully and see if there's anybody near by."_

_Justin did as he was told and shook his head. "Nuh, the coast is clear."_

_Jay nodded and place Jacob on the floor._

_Tracing a line from the tip of his middle finger to the start of his wrist, small holes appeared on his hand. He repeated the action to his other hand and then flexed his fingers before letting them fly over the holes. A tune carried out and the wall slid back._

_Justin grabbed John and took Jacob by the hand, taking them out onto the grass. Jay followed and then closed the opening._

_The three eldest ran, Jay caring John on his back._

_Justin took Jacob's hand and pulled him against his chest as something exploded just near them. The explosion sent dust everywhere and for a second, none of the four boys could see._

_"Let's keep moving." Encouraged Jay as they started running again._

_They ran through the market streets, which had only earlier that morning been filled with people, living people. Now many of the streets were littered with dead people._

_They ducked into a doorway as something went speeding past, smashing into a few of the already ruined carts._

_"Freak," Jacob murmured in surprise._

* * *

_Ravi growled low in his throat and pulled himself to his feet. This was ridiculous. Actually what was this? He looked up at the large creature looming over the village, its fluffy ears almost brushing the village ceiling. He stepped out of the mess of carts and dusted his cloak off. He snorted. Fluffy? Yeah maybe just the ears. Ravi shook his head and began running back to fight._

_Hearing a happy cry of freak, Ravi halted and looked around confused before his eyes finally landed on the four brothers._

_He looked surprised but quickly forced a smile on his face. "Hey, what are you guys doing here? You know, it's probably best that you are here. You should be safer. Quick, come with me." Only thinking of protecting the four boys, Ravi forgot about the fight and quickly darted down an alleyway._

* * *

_Aya landed smoothly next to Dagan. The Earth Guardian quickly brought up a slab of wood, using it as a shield to protect both him and Aya. Drigger stood next to him, crouching low, ears twitching._

_"Well?"_

_Aya looked to Dagan and nodded. "He's fine. He's got the boys with him too."_

_"Good. You are going again?"_

_Aya nodded._

_Dagan jerked his hands forward and two thick arms of wood shot out from the shield, moving towards the beast._

_Using the quick distraction, Aya tapped her anklets twice. The golden bands glowed and small tiny wings grew from her ankles as the anklets disappeared._

_"It'll do for now." She said, answering Dagan's silent question._

_The younger Guardian didn't reply. He sent the wooden slab flying forward and it smashed against the beast's head._

* * *

_"Mum, Dad!"_

_Marissa and Jalen turned._

_"Boys!" Marissa and Jalen ran up to the four boys following Ravi and hugged each of them in turn._

_"What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the house? It's not safe here."_

_"It's safer here then at the house." The group turned to Caleb._

_Caleb was crouching, back to the family. Ravi had taken his place next to the Water Guardian and was standing with one hand on his hip._

_Soldiers were lined up around the one single house. They were clad in magnificent armour, each wearing a mask that covered half of their face, and each of them had a weapon strapped to their back._

_Marissa and Jalen wore the same armour._

_"Sir! We've searched the house as best we can. We'll have to make a forced entry." Reported a soldier as he came running up to Jalen._

_Jalen nodded. "Soldiers ready! Good luck!"_

_A few soldiers ran forward, drawing their weapons. They rammed the door down and ran inside the hut. Soon another group of soldiers followed them in, and then another._

_Jay placed John on the ground and ran over to a pile of armour, quickly putting it on. Strapping his weapon into place, he placed the mask on his face gently and took his place next to his parents._

_"Let's go." Murmured Jalen and the three of them ran in._

* * *

_Aya dropped Dagan next to Ravi and Caleb before landing. She drew the magnificent blue and grey dragon wings that emerged from her shoulders back in and looked at the house, which had now started to burn._

_Ravi held a hand out and brought the flames back down._

_"It's coming here, back to its master."_

_Caleb and Ravi nodded at Dagan's explanation._

_Justin stood just in front of Jacob and John, his red-violet eyes wide. He knew he had to go help, and he knew the Guardians wouldn't let him. Seeing an opportunity, he pulled out his flute and clutched in his hand tightly._

_He turned to John and hugged him fiercely, choking on the tears that threatened to fall. He turned to Jacob next and held the boy by his shoulders._

_"Listen Jake, Mum and Dad and Jay, they need help, my help, ok? Take care of your brother, and be careful."_

_"What? No! Where are you going?" Jacob clutched at his brothers wrists and held them so tightly it was almost painful._

_Justin hesitated before answering. "Inside the house. I have to go help. But I promise I'll come back, with Mum and Dad and Jay. And since when have I ever broken my promise? Have I ever broken one of my promises to you?"_

_Jacob didn't even need to think about it as he nodded furiously._

_Justin laughed lightly and drew Jacob in, hugging him tightly._

_Jacob returned the hug. He buried his hands in Justin's long ponytail and started sobbing._

_Hearing Jacob's sobs, Justin's own dreaded tears started to fall. He held Jacob's head in his hands and kissed his forehead. "I'll be back," he whispered. He darted around the Guardians and into the house after releasing Jacob._

_Jacob nodded slowly and knelt down to hug a crying and confused John. "He'll be back," Jacob whispered, comforting both John and himself._

* * *

"The beast started attacking again, and by instinct, Jacob opened a portal to the middle of absolutely no where. He begged the Guardians to throw the beast through the portal and then he would close it, trapping the beast until its dieing day. But the Guardians destroyed the beast anyway, even though they knew the consequence. Whilst the beast had fluffy ears, it had the face of a toad, and the sack hanging from its neck was filled with poisonous gas. The gas would take a while to take affect, causing those affected by it to die a painful death. The Guardians destroyed the beast and the gas was released, infecting every surviving villager. Jacob and I were protected by Aya, the Air Guardian."

* * *

_"No!" wailed Jacob as the Guardians sent their final attack, completely ignoring the fact that Jacob had opened a portal for them._

_As soon as the beast was destroyed, Aya raised a shield of wind around the two brothers, the Guardians and herself._

_The house went up in flames, killing everybody inside. Trees were ripped up, and roofs were torn off of houses as the final attack caused a huge explosion._

_Caleb held John while Dagan held Jacob close to his chest. Jacob watched with dull eyes as the flames licked at the remains of the house._

_"You promised…"_

* * *

"They were called the Guardians for a reason, they were to Guard the realms and the whole of Magartha. But in the eyes of Jacob and the surviving villagers, they had failed to do so."

"And you?" asked Max.

"Me? I only know what I know through stories. I was too young to properly remember anything. Jacob's fiancée, Jennifer, died two months ago. She was seven at the time of the attack and died because of the gas, giving Jacob more reasons to loathe the Guardians. But as much as he hates to admit it, he can't bring himself to loathe them completely. The flute I have? It's Jay's. Jacob's flute is Justin's and the two hanging at home are our parents'. Somehow, they all survived the fire. That's why Jacob's reaction earlier was kind of… angry? I don't know what the right emotion would be, even though I probably felt the same. In Jacob's eyes, and possibly in mine, your former selves destroyed our village and our family, and yet we had served the Guardians for years. It didn't add up. But you can't change the past, no matter how much you want to." John stopped in front of a food stall. "You guys hungry?"

The group nodded and John handed over a few coins to the stall owner.

"Here ya go!" exclaimed the stall owner as he handed over 5 sticks with…

"What on earth are these?" demanded Tyson. Holding the stick in front of him he wrinkled his nose in disgust. Sitting on the stick was a purple caterpillar looking thing, green slime like stuff drizzled over the top of it.

"Mm." John took a bite. "Don't tell me you haven't had one of these?"

Kai took a bite of his and smiled as he took another. It'd been a while since he had one of these.

Tyson, Max and Rei shook their heads in reply to John's question.

"Well, then try some already! Take a bite." John grinned and almost laughed as the three boys took a hesitant bite.

"Oh my gods!"

"My tongue!"

"The taste!"

John blinked. "Maybe I should have started them off with something a little more normal…"

"No!" cried the three boys.

"These are really good!" exclaimed Rei.

Tyson and Max murmured agreements around the food in their mouths.

Kai rolled his eyes and took another bite. Suddenly, a large explosion sent Kai and John, who had been standing next to each other, flying into the Guardians.

Picking themselves up, the group looked in the direction that the explosion had come from. Smoke was swirling into the sky.

John's eyes widened. "no." he jumped up onto a near by building. "JACOB!"

Rei's head turned to John in alarm. "Jacob?"

People around them covered their ears as a loud deafening roar echoed through the streets.

Kai's fingers twitched as he fought the urge to cover his own ears.

Tyson and Max had already done so and Rei was doing anything he could to block out the sound. Damn his sensitive ears.

John, like many other Music Manipulators, covered his sensitive ears, suddenly feeling very dizzy. He dropped down next to the Guardians and dropped to his knees.

"There are too many high frequencies in the roar. It hurts." He explained.

Rei whimpered in agreement as he crouched down, trying to get away from the noise.

* * *

Tala's eyes flew open. "What the hell?" he lost his grip due to the force of the explosion and fell over the edge. He grabbed a hold of the roof. "Bryan!" Tala looked down at the Falcon who was dangling from Tala's hold on his wrist.

"Come on, wake up!" hissed Tala. He looked up at the roof and then back down Bryan. "You'll thank me later." He murmured as he threw Bryan back onto the roof before pulling himself up.

* * *

"the lower to the ground you are, the louder everything will seem," Explained Kai.

John and Rei immediately pulled themselves up, using the others for support.

"there's Jacob!" cried Tyson and he pointed at the figure he jumped out of the smoke. "and he's got Hilary and Kenny! Good!"

Jacob placed Hilary and Kenny down and drew his sword and flute. It was as they had suspected. There was a traitor amongst the Elders, and somehow, the traitor had found out about the Guardians.

"no way," he groaned. He straightened up and stared at the beast in front of him.

Fluffy ears almost brushed against the ceiling of the village. Toad eyes looked around and the sack at its neck kept expanding and decreasing. Its front legs were that of a cat, its hind legs that of a dog and its tail that of a snake. It was the same beast from all those years ago.

"Jacob!"

Jacob turned to see John and the Guardians running towards him.

Jacob grunted as John threw himself at his older brother. "I'm fine. Get off."

John slowly pulled away.

"Hey isn't that…" Tyson trailed off and looked to Max, who shrugged.

"The same beast from the story? Yes." Murmured Kai. "Move!" he grabbed both Kenny and Hilary and jumped. The others followed suit and were in the air just in time to miss the attack sent their way.

As they landed, Kai dropped his disguise and brought out his wings. He flared them and lifted into the air.

Jacob cast a glance to Kai but said nothing.

"Where are the Elders?" asked John. He drew out his own sword and flute.

"Dead," replied Jacob.

"All of them?"

"All of them except Alfonso, who is obviously the traitor."

"Alfonso?" John raised both his eyebrows. "You can't seriously mean Alfonso, with the lisp and the bad back. The one who can barely walk and constantly smells of sweat and keeps calling us female names?"

"Yes him!" Jacob snapped. He flipped backwards and out of the path of one of the beast's paws. "But he doesn't exactly look like that now."

"Is that a compliment dear Jacob?" a young handsome man appeared on the beast's head, leaning against one of its ears. A tanned hand came up to brush a strand of black hair out of his face. "It feels good to be young and not in that idiots body. By the way, the name is Matthias. We never really got to meet last time."

"Last time?" mumbled John.

"Yes last time. You know, when dear Bobo here destroyed the place." Matthias tilted his head back. "Ah the good old days. Oh hello there dear Guardians, and how are you on this fine day?"

Kai glared and landed. He grabbed Rei and Tyson by the wrist, nodding for them to do the same.

"John, call the warriors and then the warning whistle. I want everyone in lock down and every soldier out here!" ordered Jacob. He jumped up and gripped his sword with both hands, his flute hanging around his neck.

"Heh, too slow." Teased Matthias as he dodged Jacob's swing and appeared behind him.

John stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly. Then he pressed his flute to his lips and let the notes play.

On the streets below, people ran from one place to another. Stalls suddenly were pulled into houses, doors and windows locked. Soon all the stalls were gone, and all the people inside.

One by one, soldier after soldier appeared in front of John in their gear, ready to fight. And on Jacob's order they were off.

"Come on," said Kai. "They'll be fine for now. We have business to attend to." He jumped into the streets below and beckoned for the group to follow.

John cast a glance towards Jacob before following the Guardians.

* * *

"Ian! Spencer!"

The pair looked up in shock as Tala kicked the door open.

"Tala! You're back… Bryan?" Ian stood and, frowning, closed the door behind the pair.

"He's stuck in a Connection and I can't get him to Break it," Snapped Tala. He dumped the Falcon unceremoniously on the couch then plopped down next to him.

"And you?" Spencer asked as he pressed his hand to Bryan's forehead.

"I've been going in and out of the Connection because of what's happening, so I'm currently still trying to get the orders from Master Boris."

Ian sat cross legged on the floor. "But we got the orders yesterday. They're still the same, remember?"

Tala shook his head. "I know that, but something happened and so Bryan started up a Connection, without even consoling me first. I should have just let his body fall to the ground. To think I saved him twice."

Tala winced as Ian punched him hard.

"Shut up!" the younger boy shouted. "You would never do that, so shut up!"

"Ian…"

"Go back into the Connection. You're fine for now so go in and finish whatever you needed to do," Spencer instructed quietly.

Tala sighed and threw his mind open. "Here I come, Bry."

* * *

Kai skidded around the corner, placing one hand on the wall to steady himself. He could hear the footsteps of the others behind him and he could hear the explosions and attacks that they had just left behind.

He pulled to a halt in front of a wooden door and knocked on it three times, once in the top let corner, once in the centre and once in the bottom right corner. The door swung open.

Kai ushered them all in then checked to make sure no one had followed. He stepped into the building and closed the door, which locked automatically.

"It's so dark," whispered Max as he grabbed Rei's hand. "I can't see a thing."

"Yo!"

"AH!" Max jumped as the voice came from behind him and the lights suddenly came on.

"Hehe sorry 'bout dat mate." The guy apologised. Emerald green eyes twinkled with mischief and reddish brown hair sat messily. "Name's Luke. How ya goin'?"

"No time Luke. We need to get out of here," explained Kai. He had already dropped his cloak to the floor and was pulling his shirt off.

Luke turned serious. "So ya here on bus'ness are ya? Whaddya want me to get ready?" he started walking over to the counter in the corner.

"This is a store?" asked Tyson.

"One of the best! Sells everythin' ya could ever need! Unless it's somthin' ridiculous of course… like the skin of a Trooper Rat, they're pretty 'ard to get." Luke grinned and leaned against the counter.

Kai disappeared into the back room. "Luke listen carefully, here's what I need; draw the back wall cover down and let them see the weapons. I want hairpins, hair bands, bangles and anklets for Hilary. For Kenny I want anklets and buttons. Everyone needs new packs. For Tyson, give him anklets… same for Max and Rei. I want you to give Kenny a cloak, hood and all. For the others I want ponchos with hoods… with detachable sleeves just in case. We need rope as well. And ribbons… and throw in an extra pack of hair ties. I want you to grab my bow and arrows, and I'll need another Bo, actually I need another of what ever weapon the others have. For Tyson I need a Dream Catcher, paint, ink, brushes and… we'll go with a flute, I think. They all need another set of clothes and…" Kai finally stepped out of the room. He'd changed his clothes over. Sleeveless shirt, pair of casual pants, he'd lost the cloak and traded it in for a long white scarf. Taking his old clothes, he stuffed them into a new backpack that Luke handed him.

Luke was leaning against the counter casually, the items that Kai had requested sitting behind him in the appropriate piles. The back wall cover had been pulled down, showing weapon after weapon.

"Hmm… get rid of the bow… no keep it but add a crossbow. Get a sanjiegun (three section staff… I'll probably just call it that from now on.) For Tyson… and I think I should have every else we'll need… but seeing as you think differently to me, add what you will."

Luke grinned. "Probably shouldn't 'ave told me that."

Kai smirked tiredly and nodded. "And you're probably right. But I need what I can get before I can get to the next store hold. Or the next base."

Luke nodded and started walking down the aisles between the shelves.

Soon he was done and everything was in piles.

"I don't think that's all going to fit into their packs," John pointed out.

Luke smiled mischievously. "Oh it will. 'Ave faith dear John." Luke winked and began packing everything.

"Ugh, how could I forget?" Kai threw his hands up in the air. "I need paint, ink and brushes for Max; I need targets and sense testers. …they're the Guardians… and you are well aware of their abilities. Work with that bit of knowledge."

Luke faltered slightly. He nodded slowly, glanced at Rei, Max and Tyson and kept working.

"'ere." He mumbled. He stood in front of the group and, refusing to raise his head, held his hands out.

"Uh…" Tyson stared down at Luke's empty hands then glanced at the others, then at John, Kai and finally, Luke again.

"Tyson, Guardian of Air," whispered Luke, keeping his head down.

The air above his hands shimmered and a set of neatly folded clothes landed in Luke's empty hands.

"Take them Tyson," Kai said quietly. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes following every little movement as he surveyed the confrontation. Feeling an emotion that he couldn't place, he reached out to Luke with his empathy, gently caressing the young teen's mind which was drowning in sudden turmoil.

"Max, Guardian of Water."

Max bit his lip and took the new set of clothes that had appeared. "Thank you…" he whispered before hurrying into the back room with Tyson.

"Rei, Guardian of Earth."

Rei went to take the clothes but hesitated. "Luke…"

Luke's head almost came up but he kept it down. "Don't ya like 'em? I'll change 'em. 'Ang on."

"No they're fine." Rei took the clothes. "Thank you."

Walking past Kai, Rei stopped. "Long term or short term?"

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"Judging by his reaction, Luke has obviously been affected by the incident from a few years back. Short term or long term affect?"

Kai sighed and stood up straight to face Rei. "Luke Logan is 14 years old and became an orphan 3 years ago when his mother, father and two sisters died because of the gas. He runs this shop alone, after the man who took him in died 18 months ago from the same cause. John and Jacob know him well though, and are constantly checking in with him. Now go get changed."

Rei nodded solemnly and did as he was told.

When it was Kenny and Hilary's turn, Luke straightened up and smiled. "For the lady, the finest material… well as fine as ya can get when it comes to travellin'. Wouldn't wanna stick ya in silk only for it to all get ruined now would I?"

Hilary smiled back and took the clothes.

"And the genius of the group… here ya go! I have a feelin' you'll like 'em."

"Thank you," said Kenny as he took his clothes and went to change.

While the others were in the back changing, Kai stepped forward. "Luke, you know you –"

"Why didn't ya tell me?" Luke demanded.

"What?"

"The second ya walked in, why didn't ya tell me who they were?" Luke turned to face Kai, green eyes burning. "I've shown complete disrespect to 'em! They 'ave power beyond what I can imagine! They could kill me without me knowin' 'twas them!"

"So you're afraid?" Kai held Luke's stare until the younger boy looked away and nodded.

"You weren't scared when you found out about me." Kai tilted his head to the side and spoke softly.

"That was diff'rent."

"How?"

Luke hesitated. "I dunno. It jus' was. I already knew ya, although as Kav… I jus' knew I could trust ya… 'twas because I already knew ya."

Kai sighed. "I know you've only just met them, but they aren't going to do anything to you. You have no reason to be scared. And you have every right to look them in the eye and if you want, tell them you hate them."

"I don't hate 'em!" argued Luke. He shook his head. "I don't hate 'em, and before ya ask why, it's 'cause I don't know 'em… and they aren't 'em, they aren't responsible for what happened to my family… ugh, it's twisted and confusin' and… I don't know any more."

"Luke, Jacob's absolutely furious, and I had difficulty coming to terms with it too, but then I realised they need me in the same way we need them. They're ordinary people, just like us, and just because they're Guardians, doesn't make them any different." John stepped behind the boy and wrapped his arms around Luke's shoulders.

"Speaking of us needing you guys," Appearing from the room, Tyson grinned and held a piece of clothing up. "Hils was wondering how the hell she's supposed to get this on?"

ok, world's most boring chapter i know, but i need this in my own weird way, to help explain things. i would have continued onto what is supposed to come next but... this chapter is already long, and if i put everything in, it would have been ridiculously long... hehe. sorry for the huge wait by the way, writers block, homework, school, you know, the usual.

next time: they fight Bobo (the beast) and Matthias, who turns out to be working with Tala and the others. they arrive in the Air Realm... i think. not sure if it'll get that far. ye-ah...

bye!

kavbj


	14. Chapter 14 Troublesome Bobo

**_Chapter 14 – Troublesome Bobo_**

1,2,3. Three of the soldiers ran up one after the other, jumping off one of the roofs and landing a hit on Bobo, before using their legs to push back off, flipping in the air and landing smoothly next to Jacob.

Jacob nodded, acknowledging their attack. He pressed his flute to his lips and was just about to do a summoning spell when the soldiers around him started pointing and looking up and around them.

"No way."

"It can't be them."

"Impossible."

"It's the Guardians!"

"They're coming." Jacob glanced to his left, surprised to see John there. John smirked and pointed to the sky.

Kai was flying over, Dranzer soaring above him.

Drigger sped forward along one of the roads, Rei next to him, sprinting and bent down low to gain more speed as he kept up with the spirit.

Tyson was coming up opposite to Kai, sitting on Dragoon as the dragon flew steadily.

On a different road, Max and Draciel were speeding along in a surge of water.

They stopped, two above Bobo, and two on the ground on either side of him.

The soldiers quickly receded to Jacob at the Music Manipulator's order.

"Blazing Gigs!"

"Gatling Claw!"

"Galaxy Storm!"

"Gravity Control!"

The plan was for the attacks to meet in the middle, the middle being Bobo, but they never made it.

"Novae Rogue!"

"Stroblitz!"

"Stramolyu!"

"Wy Crusher!"

* * *

Ian turned away from the window grinning. "They just went past now!"

Tala nodded and stood. Spencer started for the door and Bryan yawned before standing wearily. It was time to begin.

Bryan flew forward at amazingly fast speeds, Falborg to his right.

Tala, much like Rei had been, was running along side Wolborg, crouching low for more speed.

Spencer was standing on top of Seaborg and was moving in surge of water like Max had been doing.

Ian was perched on Wyborg as the snake moved its way quickly through the streets.

"Blazing Gigs!"

"Gatling Claw!"

"Galaxy Storm!"

"Gravity Control!"

The four teens smirked, knowing it was time.

"Novae Rogue!"

"Stroblitz!"

"Stramolyu!"

"Wy Crusher!"

All eight attacks clashed in the middle, none of the attacks sent by the Guardians hitting their mark.

* * *

Catching sight of the lilac-eyed hooded figure from the other day, Dranzer vanished and Kai dived head first. As he fell, he began spinning faster and faster, wings tucked in. Flames erupted from under him and surged upwards and around Kai. Now a flaming drill, Kai pulled up just before he touched the ground and headed straight for one of four of the beast's legs.

He flew around and around the leg, moving up towards its stomach. Kai drew his sword and held it in front of him with both hands. The power of the weapon was increased with the flames dancing around it and Kai cut up and right through Bobo's stomach and exited through the beast's back.

The flames burnt out and Kai spread his wings and looked down. Gripping the sword tighter in one hand, his eyes widened in disbelief. No way. The wound running through the beast's body slowly closed up until it was completely gone, not even a mark.

* * *

Bryan threw one arm around Kai's neck and used the other to grab Kai's arm and twist it behind the Guardian's back painfully, causing Kai to drop his sword.

Kai arched forward slightly, trying to get away from the hooded figure's grip. He arched forward a bit more and then used the momentum to toss the guy over his shoulder.

Bryan released his grip as soon as he felt himself being thrown forward. He tucked his wings in and glanced at Kai. He let himself fall head first towards the ground, gaining more and more speed and just hoping that Kai would follow.

Kai glanced at the figure as he fell and then with a sigh, dived down after him.

Bryan smirked, perfect. As a pale blue blur passed him, his smirk grew. And there goes Tala. Bryan flipped and landed, smirking again at the surprised look on the faces of the soldiers in front of him. With a flick of his wrist, they were pushed back by a strong force of wind, their clothes suddenly torn to shreds and multiple scratches running along their flesh. Fun time.

* * *

Kai blinked and quickly whirled around as the pale blur whizzed past him. He narrowed his eyes as he came face to face with the redhead. The redhead grinned maliciously and threw his hands around Kai's neck. He tightened his hold and pushed down, smashing Kai into the ground.

Kai gasped and shivered. He was suddenly growing cold.

Tala smirked and tightened his hold again. He was keeping his fingers pressed against Kai's pulse, using the quickest way to slowly freeze his opponent's blood.

Kai's breath came out in gasps. He struggled to warm his body up, the lack sunlight not helping.

"Get off. Of. Him!" yelled Max. He jumped up and twirled once. As soon as he landed he pushed forward with his arms and lunged his body forward. The water that had been swirling around his feet rose and shot forward, pushing the redhead off of Kai.

Tala skidded on his feet before finally pulling to a stop. Smirking, he shook the water off of him, much like a wolf would. He crouched down low, placing his hands on the ground and bending his knees. Tilting his head back, he opened his mouth and howled.

Kai stood on shaky legs and drew his new bow. Stringing an arrow onto it, he took aim and fired.

Tala brought his head down and spun on his heel. Now squatting, he cocked his head to the side, smirking when he heard the arrow hit something else.

"He's fast," commented Max. He flicked his wrists back and forwards constantly, the water at his feet growing in height. He threw his arms out to the side and the water spread out. Bringing his hands back in, the water followed the movements and started to swirl at Max's feet again.

Kai raised an eyebrow as exploding tags around them began going off.

Max smiled. "Sudden premonition," Max pointed in front of him. "Aim there."

Kai nodded and strung another arrow, aiming straight ahead.

As the arrow zoomed forward, the air shimmered and suddenly the arrow stopped in midair, hovering above the ground. The air shimmered again and the lilac-eyed figure revealed himself, the arrow's point held between his two fingers.

Bryan mentally acknowledged the Water Guardian. So he'd seen the tags he had set, and then he had seen Bryan, nice.

* * *

"Now Tyson!" called Rei, ducking under his opponents kick.

He and Tyson both spun on their heel and headed for Kai and Max.

Coming from different directions, they jumped up and landed in a dive roll, crossing over each other and landing with their leg coming round in a sweeping kick.

As Rei brought his leg around, a wall of earth rose, and as Tyson brought his leg around, a barrier of wind formed, blocking all attacks from the enemy.

Kai stood back to back with Max, Rei in front of him and Tyson in front of Max. "Since when did your fighting ability increase so much?" he asked dryly. He put his bow away and drew one of his swords, twirling it in his hand.

Tyson smirked. "Since now I guess."

"We have a reason to fight, something to protect," continued Max.

"And," added Rei, "we can't have a repeat of all those years ago, now can we?"

Kai rolled his eyes.

"They're gone!" cried Tyson. He stood up and let his barrier drop.

Kai growled and drove his sword forward and through Rei's earth wall. The wall crumpled at his feet, and sure enough, there was no sign of the four hooded figures.

* * *

Spencer and Ian walked over to Tala and Bryan calmly, the fact that their opponents had brought up some protection proving that they didn't have to rush.

Just to give a bit more time, Tala made a set of hand signs and twitched his fingers. Ice shards appeared around him and with an order from the redhead, they flew towards the barriers, hitting them with dull thuds before dropping to the ground.

"Move out and towards Matthias," ordered Tala before jumping up onto a near by roof and then onto Bobo.

Bryan spread his wings and flew up, Spencer took a similar path to Tala, though a few more jumps were involved, and Ian simply raised a pillar of earth. Making sure to use the earth barrier to their advantage, they managed to get to their target point without much trouble.

* * *

"Well, dear Guardians."

The four males looked up as they were called. The four hooded figures were standing next to Matthias, who was in the middle, glancing from one figure to the other. He sighed. "Sorry dear Guardians, but I must leave you now." He grinned, "But don't worry, I'll leave Bobo behind and you can still have some fun with him."

* * *

Tala and Bryan seized Matthias rather roughly by the arms, and Ian and Spencer started riling up the large beast beneath their feet.

Tala twisted and bent his wrist so that he could reach inside his sleeve. He pulled out a small dagger and thrust backwards with it.

Kai's eyes narrowed in suspicion and recognition. That dagger looked awfully familiar as well. Quickly rolling up his pant leg, Kai looked from his dagger to the redhead's dagger. They were exactly same. Kai stood and tucked his necklaces back in, which had fallen out when he had bent down.

Bryan glanced at Tala, mentally praying that the redhead hadn't seen the dagger and necklaces. No need for him to get his hopes up, it'd only interrupt the mission.

Tala hadn't seen the necklaces, and was instead feeling behind him with the dagger. Finally the knife snagged on something and Tala tugged. The air ripped and a portal opened.

Spencer and Ian jumped up next to Bryan and Tala, who shoved Matthias through the portal before following. Ian jumped in last, the portal closing around his figure as he waved tauntingly.

Kai bent his arm back and threw his sword at the portal with a cry. The portal closed just before the sword made it, the weapon whizzing through the air and not stopping until it eventually fell and hit the ground.

Kai growled low in his throat and cried, "Get down!"

Obediently, everyone who heard him immediately dropped to the dirt, and just in time.

The now ferocious Bobo opened his large mouth. Inside, just near the back of the large cavern, a yellow ball of light started forming. It grew quickly and soon filled the beast's mouth. Bobo closed his mouth and the glowing orb of power was forced out.

It hit the ground just behind the Guardians, shattering the ground and leaving a huge crater.

The four teens kept their heads down, dust and chunks of earth flying around them.

Rei slowly forced himself to his feet, using one arm to protect his eyes and using his other arm to send the earth and dirt flying back to the crater.

"All clear," he grinned down at the three other males and placed his hands on his hips.

* * *

Hilary paced the room for a second time, thoroughly annoyed.

"Relax will ya? Dey know what dey're doin'" said Luke. He pushed himself off of the counter and walked into the back room, returning with a bowl of nuts. He placed them on a table and sat down to eat, inviting Kenny and Hilary to do the same.

Kenny sat down quietly and nibbled nervously on a handful of nuts.

Hilary stared at the two boys in disbelief. "How can you sit there and _eat?!_ You disgust me!" she crossed her arms and turned her back to them.

Luke swallowed the food his was chewing and stared at his hands in his lap. "Chill. I know Kai, 'nd what 'e can do. 'E's gonna be fine. 'E's more than cap'ble of beatin' whatev'r tis dey're fightin'."

Hilary had glanced backwards to look at Luke at the teen spoke, but as soon as his gaze met her, she faced the other way again.

Luke laughed and leant back again the cushions around him. "c'mon, eat. It'll make ya feel bett'r."

* * *

Tyson tackled Max to the ground just as an attack whizzed over their heads.

"That… was close," panted Max. He stood and poked the charred ground with one his Sai. "And that would've been me."

Tyson stood next to him and twirled his Bo. He attacked the furballs that came at him and Max, their long ears twitching. Watching massive hairballs grow out of Bobo's fur had not been pleasant.

"Come on!" he called to Max, who stabbed two of the furballs. "We've got to get to Rei and Kai!"

* * *

Rei and Kai stood back to back, weapons raised as the furballs surrounded them, teeth gnashing together as they snarled and spat.

"On the count of three," instructed Kai, "I want you to split the earth between us, so that their formation is disrupted, ok? 1…2…3!"

Rei quickly put his hands together, and then separated them. The earth running between Kai's and Rei's feet started to crack and split through the middle of the furballs' circle.

As soon as the earth started splitting, Kai raised one arm forcefully, and flames leapt from the crack. They spread along the ground like gas, creeping towards and attacking the furballs.

"No! The guys! Go to the **guys!**" shouted Kai as he saw Tyson and Max running towards him and Rei. He closed his hand into a fist and the fire died down. Rei put his hands together again and the crack closed.

"Right, the guys," muttered Max. He and Tyson spun on their heel and ran for John and Jacob. They glanced back to make sure that Kai and Rei were following. They were.

* * *

"Again!" ordered Jacob, his voice hoarse. He, John and the soldiers around them all lifted their instruments to their lips and played the same tune again.

The tune, a summoning spell, called forward creatures that were… different. A spider monkey, spider legs, monkey body. A cat fish, fish head, cat legs and body, and so on so forth. The mix breeds were only roughly waist high, as magical energy levels dropped ever lower.

The animals attacked Bobo, landing a few hits before being destroyed.

"Again!" Jacob went to play, but his first note came out shrill as he was suddenly grabbed and whisked away from the fight scene.

When he was placed on his own two feet, he dusted himself off. "What the hell… oh. It's you guys," he muttered as he ran his gaze over his capturers.

The Guardians stood before him, traditional masks on and weapons in hand. Kai folded his wings in before letting them disappear altogether.

"Remember when you were eight?"

* * *

Glancing at the Guardians to his right, then to the battle raging on behind him, Jacob sighed and plunged his sword forward and into thin air.

He twisted it one way, and then the other before pulling it back. He sheathed it and pressed his flute to his lips to begin playing a tune as old as time, and yet known only to one person every life time, the Keeper of the Portals at World's End.

A huge blast exploded behind them, kicking up dust and sending their hair across their faces. Kai's scarf whipped out to the side, and Jacob's cloak whipped out in front of him, pushing against his back, but he kept playing. Another blast went off, and another, and another. Bobo started walking closer to their location.

"Max, barrier practice!"

"What? _Now?_"

"Perfect timing," retorted Kai. He yanked Max forward by his wrist and positioned the blonde so that he was facing the nearing beast.

Instructing Max on how to build enough energy, Kai then showed Max the appropriate hand signs. He stepped down and let Max lift the barrier as Bobo got even closer.

"Here goes nothing," Max mumbled to himself. He slammed his hands down on the ground then, concentrating hard, forced his magical energy into his hands until he was forced to release it. Water surged out and up from his hands, rising quickly and steadily before spreading out to the sides as Max lifted and spread out his arms.

Kai waited patiently behind the blonde, watching with wary eyes as the beast got closer and closer. It opened its mouth and sent an attack, which was blocked and rebounded by Max's barrier.

Max grit his teeth and his arms faltered for a second as another attack was sent. When a third attack hit, the whole barrier fell to the ground with a splash before quickly rebuilding. The fourth attack completely shattered it and Max was left breathing heavily.

Kai dived in front of Max, raising his own barrier before the fifth attack could get through. Bobo was right in front of them now, and he raised one large paw and pushed against the barrier.

"The portals are open!" called Jacob. "Which one?"

"Some where in the middle of nowhere!" ground out Kai as he pushed back against Bobo.

"Right," Jacob selected the designated area and the four portals disappeared. A single portal took their place, it's opening completely black. "Suction!"

Kai dropped his barrier when he heard the command and pulled Max out of the way. Tyson and Rei stepped next to Jacob.

The beast was dragged forward by an invisible force, and it dug its paws into the ground to try and stop moving. Nothing worked.

Rei cocked his head to the side, listening to the whimpers and mewls Bobo was making. "Wait!" he cried, throwing a hand out to Jacob to tell him to stop.

The Suction faltered and Jacob stared at Rei. "What?" he snapped.

"Wait," Rei repeated, stepping closer to Bobo.

Kai watched Rei with wary eyes. He sighed, "What are you doing Kon?"

Rei ignored them all. Slowly he raised an arm and placed his hand on Bobo's leg. The beast leant down and snorted. It nuzzled Rei's head.

Rei started laughing. "He just wants to play."

"What?"

"Poor Bobo here only wants some fun, he wants to play, and that's what he thought we were doing, playing, because none of our attacks harmed him."

Max and Tyson started laughing, "Are you serious?"

"I don't care! He goes! Suction!"

"No!" screamed Rei. He threw himself in front of the beast, arms out. He dug his heels into the ground, and forced some of the dirt up. It wrapped around his ankles, trapping him to the ground. But his feet were quickly ripped from the holds. Luckily, however, he somehow managed to dig his hands into the ground and hold on using that.

"Rei!" Max and Tyson called. They ran over to their friend, ignoring Kai's cry of no and then his annoyed cry of idiots.

"Jacob, stop it! Now," demanded Kai, yelling over the wind.

"Stop it? This thing almost destroyed my village for a second time!"

"It was only trying to play!" Rei defended weakly. He looked down at the ground, alarmed when he felt his hands slipping out. Next thing he knew, he had Tyson and Max next to him.

Tyson tried to control the winds sucking them in, but they were too strong.

"Kai!" they shouted.

Growling low in his throat and clenching his fists, Kai cursed every single one of them. With a twitch of his fingers, red hot chains rose from the earth and wrapped themselves around Kai's ankles. Another twitch of his fingers sent chains up and around his waist, and then into the portal. Kai grunted at he felt the chains around his waist tug as the portal continued trying to pull him in. Finally, there was a thud from inside the portal and the chains tightened.

"What was that? There's nothing inside the portal, how could those chains hang on to something?" called Jacob, still refusing to close the portal. If they wanted to follow that beast in, then it was fine with him.

Kai didn't reply. He spread his wings and lifted into the air, the chains lengthening and jangling against one another. Keeping low to the ground, Kai flew around Max, Tyson, Rei and Bobo, drawing a red line in the dirt with two fingers. Kai went round a second time, flying higher, and a wall of fire began to follow him, growing in height at Kai flew higher and higher.

Kai stopped when the flames brushed against the ceiling, the others trapped safely inside.

Rei, Max and Tyson grunted as they dropped to the ground, the sudden suction force gone now that Kai's barrier had reached the village ceiling.

They stood and dusted themselves off, and Rei talked soothingly to Bobo. But already, there was another problem. They were already starting to run out of air.

Kai was pulled back to the ground rather roughly by the chains as they jerked and spasmed. He grunted, hitting the dirt hard, and he struggled to pull himself to his feet. The chains were giving way to the suction force, which had grown in strength.

He threw his hand out to the side and commanded, "Rise!"

The earth cracked and flames leapt up. Out of the fire stepped 8 Shadows. They bowed down low, straightening at Kai's order.

"Grab the chains at my ankles and hold them tight," he ordered, his eyes flashing dark red for a second as he received a Sin and gave up a Purity. Shadows were creatures of Hells Depths, and for one to summon them, or any creature from Hells Depths, they were to give up a Purity as pay, and receive a Sin in return. The Sins slowly corrupted ones heart unless purified. Purifying a Sin was an easy enough task, usually.

When he was sure the one that had grabbed the chains was ready, Kai twisted and faced the barrier. He flung his hands forward and fiery chains flew forward from his palms and through to the inside of the barrier.

Rei, Max and Tyson cried out in alarm as chain's wrapped around their waists, relaxing when they noticed the chains were on fire. Chains also wrapped around each of Bobo's legs, scaring the large beast. Suddenly, 7 shadows appeared and grabbed the chains. Three Shadows took care of the three teens and the other four took on Bobo's four legs. They pulled, holding the chains steady and tight. The barrier disappeared and the tree Guardians could see Kai standing there, chains around his own waist and ankles. The chains around their own waists were coming from Kai's hands.

The chains still connected to his palms, Kai reached down and drew his sword, the Flame Sabre, which held the Crystal he had received during the Binding.

He turned to face the portal, signifying for the others to do the same, and raised his weapon above his head.

Rei, Max and Tyson pulled out their own Crystals and raised them above their heads, making sure they were facing the portal.

Kai opened his mouth to say something but he suddenly fell forward as a huge weight was released from his hands. The chains had snapped.

Kai watched in horror as the Shadow, Max, Bobo, Tyson and Rei went flying out in front of him and towards the portal.

"No!" ropes appeared out of nowhere, lassoing around the waist's of Max, Tyson and Rei and pulling them back towards the village.

On the roofs of buildings stood John and a few of the soldiers. They were all tied down securely, and were currently pulling the three Guardians in. Luke, Hilary and Kenny were there as well.

But Bobo was still flying towards the portal.

"Banish!" cried Kai, and the Shadows disappeared, including the one that had been holding the chains around his ankles. Kai ignored the fact that his feet were slowly slipping forward and threw his chains forward again. They wrapped around Bobo and Kai pulled back, somehow, miraculously, slowing the beast down.

"'m not lettin' 'im go alone!" said Luke, watching as Kai was slowly pulled closer and closer to the portal.

"Jake! Close it! Stop the suction!" shouted John.

Jacob looked up and glared at his younger brother. "What do you think I've been trying to _**do**_ this whole time?! It isn't working! I don't _**know**_ why!"

John bit his lip.

Luke shook his head angrily. "'m goin'!"

"Luke! No wait!"

But Luke didn't listen. He jumped down from the building, spreading his arms and legs and gliding smoothly down to where Kai was. As he did, a large transparent animal appeared over him for a few seconds before vanishing again.

"He has a spirit!" exclaimed Rei, crawling forward to the edge of the roof. Max and Tyson quickly joined him.

"It's a… sugar glider?"

"When did Luke get a spirit?" mumbled John, but the others heard.

"You didn't know?" asked Hilary.

John shook his head.

* * *

"Luke! What are you doing here?" demanded Kai as the teen landed in front of him.

"Helpin' you." Luke grabbed the chains in both hands, hissing as it burnt his palms, but not letting go.

"How come if I say go away; I know you're not going to go?"

Luke laughed and shrugged.

"The Crystals!" exclaimed Tyson as he sat back on his heels. "Kai was trying to get us to do something with the Crystals!"

The three Guardians grinned at each other and stood, Crystals in hand.

"Kai!"

Kai glanced backwards to see the others jumping about, waving with Crystals in hand. Kai smirked and wrapped a hand around Luke's waist, pulling him in close.

With Luke using both hands, and Kai using one to hold the chains, Kai was able to quickly raise his sword and shout, "claudere ianuam!" **(Close the door. It's Latin.)**

Shrugging, the other three Guardians followed Kai's example.

"Claudere ianuam!" they chorused.

A coloured beam shot from each of the four crystals and into the portal. Light blue for Max, a blue grey for Tyson, yellowy green for Rei and red for Kai.

They joined half way there to form a white beam which shot right into the portal, immediately closing it.

Bobo, Kai and Luke fell backwards at the sudden lack of the force that had been attempting to pull them forward, and the chains slackened and snapped, dropping to the ground and turning to ash.

Kai stood and offered his hand to Luke, who gladly took it. While Kai healed Luke's hands, the others ran down to join them.

"We did it, we did it!" Max and Tyson sung over and over as they spun around in a circle, smiling and laughing. Rei walked over to Kai and Luke, smiling. He placed a hand on Bobo and his smile grew as the beast nuzzled his head, blowing warm air onto him that ruffled his bangs.

John threw himself at his brother, and Jacob grunted, "I'm not dead."

"Yeah I know, hence the reason I'm doing this just to annoy you."

Jacob rolled his eyes and smirked, quickly returning the hug. "Well that battle was no where near as magnificent and eventful as it was when I was 8, but anyway, at least no one died, and the village has a new… protector. I guess he is kind of cute… I trust you shall be looking after him Luke?"

Luke nodded eagerly, grinning.

"And where did that sugar glider come from?" asked John.

"Oh Loopy. Yeah, 'ad 'im for a while." Luke shrugged, "no biggie."

"Well now that that's all over," Kai turned to Luke, hit him up the back of the head, and then turned to Jacob. "We need to go to the Portals at Worlds' End."

* * *

there ya go, not as long, but i got it out of the way. this chappie was harder to right than i thought i would be. and sorry it took a while, exams are tomorrow, assignments were due last week, and it was my bday friday, so those all took up time, as did sport. :(. oh and we went to sydney. ok, enough boring you with my personal life.

bye!

kavbj

oh and thanks to those who reviewed!!


	15. Chapter 15 Chase

**Ok ignore the lateness, wont bother with excuses (Panic! At The Disco concert, SCHOOL, _H__awaii!!)_ and read. P**

* * *

_Chapter 15 Chase_

"Get moving," growled Bryan as he shoved Matthias through the entrance to the Abbey. Matthias stumbled forwards and dusted himself off, sticking his chin in the air and walking confidently behind Tala and Spencer.

The guards parted way with a bow as the group walked past.

Their shoes clicked on the cold hard floors and pictures of Abbey members glared down from their frames.

Matthias peered out from under his black hair, noting where each guard was standing, where entrances to other rooms were, and who was coming out of which room. He may have to escape this place yet.

Grunting as he was shoved forward once more, Matthias glared at the teens around him. "I am here by request of Mister Balkov; I am not another one of your victims."

"I do not care who you are Mister Matthias, you are still in our territory and we shall treat you how we will." Tala threw a glare over his shoulder and sped up.

As they came to a set of large wooden doors, the two guards on duty bowed low and stepped aside. The doors creaked and swung open slowly. Without waiting for the others, Matthias stepped forward, green eyes taking in the new surroundings.

His feet seemed to immediately sink into the lush red carpet. Bookcases lined the back curved wall and in the centre of the room was a desk made of the same material as the walls, the doors and the bookcases. A large comfy looking chair stood proudly behind the desk, its back to Matthias and in front of the desk stood two similar looking chairs.

In the corner of the room was a small little desk, littered with books and loose papers. A small old man was bent over, flicking through the many pages of a large book. Hearing the doors swing open, he looked up.

"Can I help you?"

Matthias tore his eyes away from the room and to the small man in front of him. He grinned.

"I am here to see a Mister Boris Balkov?"

The small man waited for the doors to swing closed once more before addressing Mathias.

"You must be Matthias, welcome; Master Boris has been expecting you."

The small man scurried over to the desk in the centre of the room and dusted down one of the chairs. "Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything? Wine, nectar, tea or water?"

Matthias draped his cloak over the back of the chair and sat down, making himself comfortable. "Some wine would be wonderful, thank you Mister..."

The small man started. "Oh! My apologies for not introducing myself, sir. You may call me Keeper."

Matthias nodded and leaned back into the chair. "All right then, Keeper. Some wine would be great please."

"Right away Mister Matthias."

Matthias waited until the man had left the room through a small doorway near the desk in the corner before turning to the four teens behind him who had yet to move.

"So, now that I have arrived, when shall I meet your Master, hmm?"

The four boys continued to stare straight ahead. Matthias frowned and clucked his tongue. "Alright then... unsociable bastards. My suspicions were confirmed."

"Humorous, as always Mister Matthias."

The four teens bowed low respectfully and Matthias turned back to the desk.

The chair was now facing him properly, and sitting comfortably in it, arms propped against the desk, was Boris Balkov. Matthias smiled.

"Ah, Mister Balkov. Finally, we get to meet. How are you on this fine evening?"

Boris rolled his greeting off with a wave of his hand. "Fine, fine. Tala?"

The four boys rose out of their bow and stared straight ahead. Tala took a step forward obediently, but kept his eyes level. "Yes Master Boris?"

Boris leaned his chin against his hand and closed his eyes. "Take your team and go to training hall B3. I shall come and get the lot of you for private training when I am done here."

Tala bowed down low and was quick to rise. "Yes Master Boris. Understood."

In perfect unison, the four teens turned and walked out of the room. Matthias raised an eyebrow as the guards bowed again. Those kids must be pretty important, he thought. The doors swung shut. Matthias was pulled from his thoughts when a glass was placed in front of him.

"Your drink, Mister Matthias."

Matthias nodded his thanks to the small man and took a sip. He swished the liquid around in his mouth, tasting it and testing it. No poison from what he could tell. A nice blend but no poison. Good.

"You may retire for the evening, Keeper," instructed Boris. Not bothering to glance at the small man, he said, "But before you do, open the Window will you. I want to see training room B3."

"Of course Master Boris. Right away." Keeper scurried over to the only bare wall in the room. Pulling something from his pocket, he slotted it into one of the grooves in the wall. It sunk in and twisted. The walls slid away with a hiss to reveal a thick piece of glass. Keeper kept his voice level and enunciated clearly.

"Training hall B3."

The reflection wavered then disappeared altogether. The image was replaced with an overview of the requested room. Bowing low, Keeper quickly took his leave. Boris ran his eyes over the glass. Folding his hands in his lap, he looked Matthias in the eye.

"I have a proposition for you."

Matthias raised an eyebrow and took another sip from his glass. "Oh? Is that so? And just what would this proposition be?"

Boris stood and motioned with his head that he wanted Matthias to follow. The pair walked silently to the window.

"Look down there and what do you see?"

Matthias sighed in irritation but did what he was told. "I see... a bunch of kids racing."

"Exactly."

Turning to Boris in confusion, Matthias repeated the word. "Exactly?"

Boris nodded. "Down there, are a bunch of kids racing. Well that is what most people will believe. What those children, sorry _soldiers_, are actually doing, is training. It has always been believed by Lord Voltaire, that children are our future. And they are. Once our generation is gone, the children will be in charge. But if we can raise the perfect selection of children, who will be fit to rule, then we will still have total domination, even from the spirit world."

"Is that so?"

"These soldiers are trained in every way possible, and they are not only training for the future, but the upcoming war."

That caught Matthias' attention. "_War?_ What _war_ are you talking about?"

"The war for the future of Magartha. And if you join us, like so many others are doing, then I can assure you that you will be joining the winning side."

"Ok, but why me? And more importantly, what's _in it_, for me?"

Boris smiled. It was not a pretty sight. It was about as charming as a snake before it swallowed its meal. "We need you, dear Matthias, because of your skills. And what's in it for you? Many riches, victory and power. If you join us, then as soon as we reign complete control, you will immediately become a member of the high court."

Matthias thought it over. To be a member of the high court was something big. And these _soldiers_ looked pretty powerful. "Very well, Mister Boris. I accept."

"Wonderful." Boris began to lead Matthias to the wooden doors. "I shall have someone set up your quarters then, but if you could excuse me, I have another appointment I must get to."

And before Matthias could get another word in, the doors shut.

Boris glared at the wall and walked back to his desk. "Too easy. Time to begin dragging in the others."

* * *

John quietly placed a tray of fruits, nuts and village delicacies on the coffee table. He took his seat next to his brother and folded his hands in his lap. Jacob's gaze on the floor didn't falter. Finally he looked up, and at the four teens sitting across from him.

The silence thickened and Kai slowly slid his eyes open. Crimson slits darted to the males on either side of him, subconsciously checking their emotions. His gaze landed on one of the doors up the hall. The room behind it was small, he knew, but it would be enough to entertain Kenny, Hilary and Luke for however long this...conference was going to take.

"Kai," Jacob started. His voice held authority. Kai's eyes immediately snapped over to him. "I need to know what you wish to do. You have already stated that you would like to go to the Portals at World's End, but I would like -"

"And need," added John, falling quiet and bowing his head when his brother glared at him.

Jacob continued. "I would like at least a day to recover. My brother and I are tired, my soldiers are exhausted, our Elders are _dead_, the villagers are frightened and the village is in shambles. I need the time to rebuild the mess that was left by that..." Jacob grimaced as he hesitated. His eyes travelled to the door that Kai had been staring at previously. In the room behind it was a window that showed a perfect view of the gardens. And, a perfect view of Bobo, who was currently tied to a tree.

He shook his head, his wavy brown locks swishing with the sharp motions. "The mess that that beast made. One day is all I ask for."

Kai considered Jacob's words. He had already had a suspicion that the older male would ask for something like this, and he was more than happy to allow the villagers time to recuperate. He and his team were also exhausted. He could feel it seeping from their pores as they sat slouched against the couch. Even Rei, who defined grace, seemed as though he couldn't be bothered as he leaned tiredly against the couch arm, his legs tucked up underneath him.

Kai templed his fingers and pressed his lips to his fingers. He rolled his next words around on his tongue before finally speaking. "That is fair enough. We shall rest up tonight, and then we shall take the day to assist the village and use any spare time to our advantage for training."

Tyson gave a long drawn out groan and his head flopped back. He was too tired, too sore for training of any type. It felt as though he had barely done a thing, but as he thought about it in detail, they had been through a lot since they had arrived in this village. As Tyson thought over the matter, he decided, and he would use this point in his argument against Kai tomorrow, that they probably hadn't had a proper night's sleep since... since... well before that fight against the bandits, he guessed.

Kai ignored Tyson's protest and continued on. "We will allow two days, I think. Yes, two days. We could all use the extra day to relax, as I'm sure we will be just as tired tomorrow evening, as we are now."

Jacob gave a thankful sigh and he visibly relaxed. He reopened tired magenta eyes and gave Kai a grateful smile. That was all he had wanted.

* * *

After dinner, Kai was quick to insist that they leave already. They stood outside the two boys' front door and everyone bid their farewells.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to just stay the night, instead of going to the inn?" asked John. He leaned against the door frame and frowned slightly. "We have plenty of rooms."

"Its fine," insisted Kai. He took a step back and onto the path. "Thank you for everything you have already done. It is greatly appreciated." His eyes travelled from each boy and he nodded his thanks. Jacob sighed and shifted Luke on his back.

The teen had fallen asleep just after dinner. Jacob had been about to carry him to a spare room when had Kai said that they would leave.

"Could you send Luke to the inn tomorrow morning? Tell him we'll be ready," said Kai.

Jacob frowned. "This kid wakes up at inhuman hours. I'm sorry, but I am not waking at 3 in the morning for that. And no John, you aren't going to either."

John closed his mouth and shot an apologetic look at the Guardians, though no one but Kai seemed to notice. They were all half asleep and willing to go.

"Kai," Hilary whined as her head lolled to the side. "Can we just go or stay or do _something_? I'm tired."

Kai smirked and began to walk away. "Just whisper my instructions to Luke when you put him to bed, he'll get them."

Neither John nor Jacob bothered calling out a reply. They watched the tired receding figures of the group before finally closing the door.

Kai threw a sly glance over his shoulder, and as soon as he was sure that they were out of line of view of the house, he sped up. The others struggled to keep up as Kai broke into a run.

"Oi Kai! Slow, down," called Tyson. He ignored the fact that there were houses all around him and that it was near the middle of the night. "Kai!"

Kai took a detour to the right, running down one of the very few hills in the underground village. He looked behind him to make sure the others were following. They were. Good. Kai smirked as Tyson stumbled down the hill and landed flat on his face.

Max and Rei each grabbed Tyson by the arm. They heaved him up and, not waiting to hear his thank you, started running again. They came to the edge of a forest, which had been planted years ago. The trees were strange, and Rei failed to recall the name of them. He made a mental note to ask Kenny the next morning and kept running. The trees could grow in whatever condition, and in any location. He had noticed them through out the village, but now there was a whole forest of them? Strange.

To their amazement, the group found that the further into the forest they ran, the less exhausted they felt. Hilary couldn't make sense of it. If one were to keep running as they were, weren't they to get more tired? She sped up, catching up to Rei. Her short speed burst lasted only so long, and soon Rei was in front of her again.

"I... can't see him... anymore..." wheezed Kenny. He was well aware that he was the least fit one of them all, and he made sure to fix that problem. He knew he would be berated about it later by Dizzi, so there was no way he could forget. But getting back to the actual dilemma, he blinked and pushed his brown hair off his face so he could hopefully see a little bit better. Somehow, a dim light was getting through the dense trees. He knew it couldn't possibly be the moon, they were underground. Subconsciously, Kenny noted that Rei must be in his element, literally. He was quite surprised that Tyson wasn't having more difficulties, with the lack of fresh air. There must be filters or vents, thought Kenny, but Kai is barely affected as well, and there isn't any sun. How confusing. Speaking of Kai... where is he? Kenny sighed and just decided to follow Rei; he would have the best eye sight after all.

Kai darted behind a tree. Let's see how good this neko jin's eyesight is, he thought. He waited until he could hear them getting closer. And there was Rei's voice, telling the others to follow him. So Rei had seen him. Excellent, mused Kai. He pushed off the tree he had been leaning against, a smirk lining his lips. He brushed off the insects that lived in the furry outer bark of the trees. He winced as he felt one bite him. The insects were tiny, but one bite and they near tripled in size. Kai quickly got them off him. He gave an inaudible grunt as his ankle was snagged. He fell to the ground, wincing as he landed on his shoulder. What had grabbed him? He looked up at the sound of hissing, and cursed. Fate had to be kidding him.

The insect was huge. As to how it had gotten that big, Kai wasn't sure, until he realised, with a growing sense of dread, that the insect in front of him happened to be the queen. Kai quickly drew his dagger and swiped at the tentacle like limb that was wrapped around his leg. Tiny little pincers were on the limb, and they bit at Kai's ankle continuously until they were cut away. Kai took a quick survey of the state of his leg, frowning when he saw the small red dots and the blood running down his ankle. He quickly scrambled away as another limb came his way. The queen had already grown bigger, and deciding it liked the taste of Kai, it wanted more.

Kai stumbled and lurched forward. His dagger flew out of his hand. He placed his hands on the ground to steady himself, but seeing the thick arm coming towards him, he pushed himself onto his hands. He was just about to flip up when the arm came down hard and fast. Kai was jolted by the impact of the limb hitting the ground. He shook and flopped over onto his back, smacking into the dirt with a harsh grunt as the air was pushed forcefully from his lungs. He lifted his head with a groan, but let it fall back down. It hurt too much to keep it up. Not more poison, he thought wearily as he titled his head to the side. His vision was already blurry, from the poison or his harsh impact with the ground, he wasn't sure. But his ankle was already numb, he noted.

Something wet hit his cheek, and as he wiped it away, disgusted, he wondered what was taking the others so long. It had probably been only two minutes he realised. He quickly rolled over onto his stomach to avoid the next hit. His cheek was burning. Great, it had been the creatures spit. Acid. The queen was born to fight. Struggling, he lifted his head, then his arms. Pressing his hands together, he bent his fingers down until only his index and middle fingers were pressed against each other. Closing one eye and taking aim, he jerked his hands back sharply. A small fireball blasted from his finger tips. It hit the insect head on, and the creature howled and screamed. It clawed at itself, jaws snapping. Kai fired once more and the creature retreated.

Kai let his head fall to the ground and he gave a sigh. He couldn't be bothered to go kill the insect; they stunk anyway when they were killed. He rolled onto his back and took in two deep breaths before pulling himself into a sitting position. He cleared the poison from his system and quickly healed his leg. He couldn't let the others see him like this could he now. Standing, he grabbed his dagger then he smirked and took off once more.

Rei's nose twitched. He could smell blood, and fire... he pulled a face. And something else. The fire could only be the cause of Kai, so putting his senses to good use; Rei closed his eyes, and let his nose and ears direct him. Rei sped up. They were getting closer... closer... almost there. Rei pulled to a halt and frowned. He opened his eyes and looked around him. The others caught up, puffing and huffing. Other than them he couldn't sense anyone else.

Kai twisted his body behind another tree. Listening carefully, he heard Max ask Rei what was wrong. Kai smirked at the neko jin's answer. So he had lost track of Kai had he? Very well. Time to make his presence known. He trailed his fingers along the tree, shaking off the insects that clung to him, and then darted to the next tree.

"There!" exclaimed Max. He pointed in front of him excitedly. "There's someone there!" He took a few cautious steps forward, taking a hurried one back when he saw the person leap from behind one tree to another. The shadows were hiding the person pretty well, and Max couldn't tell if the person was friend or foe. Or, Max thought, taking a breath as he realised it, they may not even be human. He jumped back next to Rei, and waited. There the person, thing, went again. No, behind that one now!

"He's over here!" called Tyson.

"No you idiot, _here!_" replied Hilary as she pointed to the tree next to her.

Quick as lightening, Kai took his place next to Rei. "Boo..." he breathed into Rei's sensitive ear, his breath ghosting across the neko jin's cheek. Kai smiled grimly after Rei froze and shivered.

"Missed me..." he breathed again, and just as Rei turned to face him, he was gone.

Rei scowled and chased after Kai at the same speed. He could see the other now, weaving gracefully between the trees, scarf trailing out behind him. He could also see clearer, he noted. Whatever was lighting the forest up was getting brighter. Or closer, Rei thought grimly. He picked his speed up a notch and was almost even with Kai when suddenly, the other male pulled to a complete halt. Rei blinked and just had enough time to jump up and kick off the tree before he went flying into it. He flipped gracefully and landed in a crouch, just in time to see Kai run off again. He could hear the others catching up. Not bothering to wait for them, he took off again also.

Kai pushed off of the tree trunk with his right foot, then off of the next tree with his left foot. He landed solidly on a tree branch and swiftly leapt to the next. He looked below him to see if Rei was following. The Earth Guardian didn't bother tantalising Kai, like Kai had done to Rei. Instead, he simply leapt up into the tree tops and darted from branch to branch in pursuit of Kai.

Ka looked back in front of him. He could see the light illuminating the forest getting brighter. They were almost there. Kai doubled back so that he was jumping over the heads of the others, not that they noticed. Kai shook his head. He would have to work on that with them later. If they couldn't sense him now, then what if it were an enemy?

Rei jumped to the branch above him, then did so again and repeated the action until he was at the top of the tree. He could see over the top of the younger trees, but he couldn't see Kai. Where had the Phoenix disappeared to so quickly? There was no where to go. Rei leaned against the tree and decided to just wait. Casting his gaze over the forest, his brows crinkled together in confusion as he caught sight of a strange glowing light right in the centre of the forest. Just where was Kai taking them? That is, if he was taking them anywhere at all.

Kai yawned. These guys were taking forever. He could sense Rei nearby. At least they were finally getting close. He twitched the end of his wings, having resorted to flying silently and slowly above the others rather than jumping painfully slowly from branch to branch. He resisted the urge to tell the others to just hurry up - and leave Kenny behind - but he would be patient. He would, he would.

Rei scratched at his arm for what felt like the hundredth time. He couldn't figure as to why he was so itchy suddenly. Pulling his hand away, he noticed the blood on his fingers. He didn't think he had scratched so much that he had broken the skin. Looking at his arm, he gulped. Little red dots covered the skin, and blood was slowly trickling down his arm to run off of his fingers. He lifted his shirt to inspect his itchy torso, and found it in a similar condition. He scratched at his ear; there was a very annoying buzzing sound. Realising it was coming from above; he wondered if it could be Kai flying. But why would he be buzzing? Looking up slowly, cautiously, Rei's jaw dropped.

**And... it ends. Short I know. I was going to make it longer... but I had to split up cos it was 9000 words and something more and I hadnt even finished. So with luck, the next chapter will be up shortly.**

**Bye!**

**Kavbj**


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